Hot spots on dogs

Sometimes your dog might have hot spots. These are the skin irritations that are cause if the dog scratches or licks himself excessively. These hot spots on dogs can be treated but they can spread all around the skin fast and thus, should be treated immediately. There may be many causes of these but the main one is bacteria.

These hot spots ondogs can occur anywhere on the body. The main concern is how to treat a hot spot? You can treat a hot spot yourself by just following some simple steps. Firstly, you have to make sure that you move the fur from that place so that the spot can be exposed to air which will dry up the moist. Shave the fur if there are many, but do not let them stay since it will slower the process of healing. You have to then clean the area where the hot spot is and apply some specialized shampoo or anti-septic spray to kill the bacteria and prevent the infection from spreading on other parts of the body. To avoid the itching the dog does, since that can make it worst, apply hydrocortisone cream on it. Usually, when there is a hot spot, a visit to the vet becomes necessary so that he can prescribe the medicine and the proper creams to use. After doing so, just keep an eye on your dog that he does not lick it or scratch it otherwise it will make it worst. 

Treatment of Dog Hot Spots Disease

Dog hot spot is a disease in which a spot is produced at the skin of dog, which contains pus, and it has a foul smell. The size of spot or patch ranges from 1 inch to maximum 4 inch. When dog lick the area of spot, then chance of infection increases. When infection spreads, the size of patch increase and it grows at a very fast rate. Every part of body of dog is equally vulnerable to this disease. A dog with long ears and hairs around is the most favorable site. The spot usually appear at the back of ear or under the flap of ear. When moist hairs are present and they trap within the skin due to thick coat, the chance of infection increases.

Parasitic infection and attack of ticks, mites, and fleas is also causative agent for the onset of disease. The spot cause lot of pain. It is necessary to remove away the hair with a clip and then a shampoo with iodine in it is best to wash the spot part of body. Cleanse the skin smoothly and then let the skin dry. A cream with antibiotic ingredients is usually applied at the spot for number of days. 

The treatment of the Dog Hot Spots disease in dog usually involves the intake of steroids. Doctors prescribe oral steroidal medicines for ten to fourteen days. The steroids are helpful to control the itching and many other symptoms associated with disease. To prevent the onset of disease in future, dry the coat of dog properly after bathing it. 

Some Information on Hotspots On Dogs:

Hot spots also known as "acute moist dermatitis" is a condition that the dog owners may encounter in their pets as swollen skin patches, appearing to be warm and painful, covering an area of roughly 1 to 4 inches. Pus may be found oozing out of them and due to cell damage and death, at times a foul smell could be emitted from the infected area. The causative factors of these skin lesions are varied. They may appear due to the behavioral characteristics of a dog like constant licking, itching, biting or scratching which leads to skin damage or there might be an external factor involved. A bee sting, for example, or fleas, skin parasites, mites, allergies and bacterial infections may be behind this itch-scratch condition.


Hot spots can appear anywhere on the body but commonly are found behind the ears or on the rump. All breeds are susceptible to this disease however; those with a heavy coat tend to be more prone to it. It may remain localized to the initial site, but when the dog licks its wound, it may spread to other areas of skin aswell.If hot spots appear, they should not be taken lightly and a veterinarian must be consulted as soon as possible. He may then proceed with antibiotic treatment after washing and drying the wound. If taken care properly, this disease is not threatening.


This information might not be helpful in curing the hot spots, but diagnosis is the first step, once you know the disease which your dog is suffering from you can look for the considerable cure.

Giving Relief To The Dog Suffering From Hot Spots

The people who keep dogs as pets love to hug and snug there fluffy and furry skin. But their soft and warm skin needs to be taken care of, to avoid the dogs from catching diseases like hot spots. Hot spots on dogs are a common skin disease, which is usually spread due to moist. This diseasecauses itches and irritations in dogs, and if your dog is suffering from this disease then there are cautions you need to take to give some relief to it.

The hairs of a dog are the target area for the hot spots, so the first thing you need to do is to trim the hairs. The longer hairs would prevent you from finding all the hot spots on a dog’s body and cleaning it is also a mess. And if your dog has long hair, then make sure you do not give bath to it with tangled hairs. Brush the hairs first to make them smooth and then give proper bath to your dog. There lotions and sprays available from pet stores which can stop the itching on a dog’s skin. And also make sure that your dog is not licking or biting the same area where he has got the hot spots on its skin.

Benadryl and Atarax are recommended for the dogs suffering from hot spots but I would recommend visiting a vet first, as a vet always knows better what is good for a dog’s health 

Dog Skin Problems

Skin diseases are the major health problem in dogs. When your dog starts licking and biting and rolling around the grass excessively, this means that he is suffering from a skin disease. Sometimes skin diseases can occur due to deficiency or over activity of the immune system. We can divide the dog skin problems into following categories:

·         Physical or Environmental Dermatitis.

·         Infectious Dermatitis.

·         Immune meditated disorders.

·         Allergic and Parasitic Dermatitis.

·         Nutritional Dermatitis.

In physical or environmental dermatitis, due to the external influence disease occurs. Like some dogs are very sensitive and they can be irritated by normal lawn grass. They start licking their skin thus resulting in diseases like “Hotspot” or “Lick granulomas”. Hotspot is a patch of bacterial infected skin while the later one is a disease occurred by licking the arm wrist. Infectious Dermatitis can be contagious (includes bacterial, parasitic, fungal or viral attacks) or non-contagious (when Bacterial or fungal flora attacks the skin). Like Ringworm caused by fungus and Sarcoptic canine scabies caused by parasites. Improper functioning of immune can also cause skin diseases. Same is the case with the over functioning of immune system. These are immune meditated disorders. Demodectic mange is an example of insufficient immune responses while atopic dermatitis is an example of over activity of immune system. Auto immune responses can also cause disease like Pemphigus foliaceus. Ticks and fleas come in parasitic disorders and food, fibers, medication, pharmaceutical products or even dust can cause allergic dermatitis. Imbalanced or incomplete food can also cause damage to dogs and creates problems in them. These are nutritional dermatitis. The quality of food should be good and it should be of different varieties like green food, organic food or natural dog food.

A common Dog Skin Problem

Acute Moist Dermatitis (Hot spot) on dog skin is a common of the dog skin problems, mainly occurs when dogs starts itching, scratching and licking himself excessively. It is also called moist eczema or summer sores. It’s a warm, painful, swollen patch of skin and can be of 1 to 4 inches (2.5 to 10cm). Hair in the area of the disease lost rapidly. Bacteria, Parasites and other skin infections can initiate this disease. Slight moisture can start bacterial infection to take hold such as when the dog had bath, swim, or playtime in the rain. Mostly occurs at the hairy surface such as ear flaps and starts deteriorating the surrounding area.

 The possible treatment of the disease can be like that:

·         Trim the surrounding area of the infection and let it dry. Drying the moisture can help it healing.

·         Use oral antibiotics.

·         Clean the area with antiseptic spray or specific shampoo like Betadine or Nolvasan.

·         Use antibiotic creams and powders.

·         Prevent your dog from biting or licking the spot.

·         Keep an eye on the area and make sure that it is healing then spreading.

·         Daily cleaning of the spot can heal it quickly.

·         Stay your dog away from moist surface.

·         Use bite not collar to prevent your dog from damaging the affected area.

To avoid this disease you should look after your dog. Keep it dry in humid conditions and don’t allow it to itch and bite the skin too often. It can be a painful disease to handle.