The Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Canine Hot Spots

What defines a Hot Spot?

A hot spot is a single area of skin that has an infection on the surface. These localized areas of infection are more likely to happen in dogs that have thick hair coats, dogs that swim a lot, and in moist or humid environments. Sometimes flea bites or other insect bites can also be involved. A hot spot starts to develop when more than the usual amount of moisture stays close to the skin. This changes the local environment of the skin and allows bacteria to grow. The bacteria release toxins, which cause inflammation in the skin. This makes the skin itchy in that one spot. A dog will chew and scratch on that spot to relieve the itching, but this makes the situation worse. The chewing damages the skin more and makes the skin infection worse. This makes the area even itchier. This becomes a vicious cycle. A large hot spot can seem to develop over only twenty or thirty minutes and can get bigger quickly. A flea or insect bite can also start the itching process.

Hot Spots – The Symptoms

Hot spots are usually easy to identify. They consist of a well-defined area of skin that is very red and inflamed, hairless, and may be oozing or scabbed over. Hot spots are most frequently found on the rear legs and around the neck but can be found in any location that a dog can reach with its teeth or rear claws. A dog is usually unable to leave this area alone and will seem to chew, lick, and scratch at it constantly. It may be so itchy and inflamed that it will be painful to the dog if touched.

Diagnosing Hot Spots

Diagnosis of a hot spot is very easy and is usually made just with a visual inspection or physical examination.

If several hot spots are present, a visit to your veterinarian may be needed for testing. These include:

Skin Scraping – This test will rule out other possibilities such as mange.

Fungal cultures to rule out ringworm

Blood or skin tests to identify seasonal or inhalant allergies Dog

Skin and Blood Test – These are performed in order to rule out an allergic reaction to fleas.

Aggressive treatment for fleas even if none are seen

Dietary food trials to test for food allergies

Treatment of Hot Spots

The most important things to address when treating a hot spot are:

Alleviate Itching

Cure the Infection

Stop the dog from biting or itching the area

Keep the infected area dry

The hair around the area must be clipped and the skin cleaned with an antibacterial soap and dried thoroughly. Sometimes the hot spot can be so severe that this procedure is painful and the dog must be sedated.

The infection is treated with a combination of oral and topical antibiotics. Usually, the topical antibiotic that is used also contains a corticosteroid to help with inflammation. To stop the itching, a short course of oral corticosteroids is used. It is important to be aggressive in stopping the itching. This makes the dog more comfortable and stops it from continuing to chew on the spot. This breaks the itch-chew-infection cycle, which speeds healing.

If your dog is unable to stop licking the area, an Elizabethan collar or lamp shade like collar may be needed. This is generally only needed for a short period of time as most dogs become comfortable within 24 hours. Within one week, the hot spot is usually healed.

Preventing Hot Spots

There are several different ways you can prevent hot spots from occurring. They are:

Using top flea control on your dog and the surrounding environment

Trim long hair and thick haired breeds during the summer months

If you can, prevent your dog from swimming

If swimming can not be prevented make sure that you dry your dog thoroughly

Heather Fox is a an experience veterinarian who writes and shares her knowledge with others. She is a featured writer on Clivir.com where she shared more information about Dog Health Problems and Dog Hot Spots Treatment.