Dudley appears to have what my groomer has told me is a hotspot. It is right on top of his head. He has managed to scratch it with his back foot and it has been bleeding. What is the best thing to do.
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Hot spot
- Thread starter Nanny71
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I have treated hot spots successfully at home; 1st I clip down or even shave the area across & also *around* the hot-spot so I have a small clear ring outside the hot wet wound; then I apply H2O2 from a FRESH pint bottle, to knock down the 2ndary infection, dry the wound up, & help create a scab, after which I wait for the scab to fall off on its own, revealing new skin with new hair growth erupting.
Keeping the animal’s teeth & tongue off the wound is essential to healing; a cone collar, a cervical ring pillow, a vet-wrap bandage covered by a sock & connected to another sock on the opposite uninjured foot by elastic crossing the spine (using mitten clips to secure the sock tops to the bridging elastic) are all things i’ve used b4 to make the hot-spot impossible to mess with.
Absorbine, Jr, is also helpful - it’s a nasty tasting OTC remedy in a glass bottle with a sponge daubing top, used to kill athletes’ foot, jock itch, prickly heat, & other opportunistic moist infections, whether fungal or bacterial. It is sold by most pharmacies & is widely available on line.
Dabbed AROUND, not dir3ctly onto, the broken skin of the hot spot, it tastes repellent —- & in later encounters, the animal usually recalls the distinctive odor, & will not lick or bite at it.
B/c it is alcohol based, it will sting badly if U get it into an open wound - so be carefun to “paint” around the hot spot, lick granuloma / acral lick dermatitis, spay sutures, etc. Put at least 1/4 to preferably 1/2 inch of whole skin between the Abs-Jr and any injury.
U are surrounding it with a no-go zone sign of nasty taste & peculiar smell.
HTH,
- terry
.
I have treated hot spots successfully at home; 1st I clip down or even shave the area across & also *around* the hot-spot so I have a small clear ring outside the hot wet wound; then I apply H2O2 from a FRESH pint bottle, to knock down the 2ndary infection, dry the wound up, & help create a scab, after which I wait for the scab to fall off on its own, revealing new skin with new hair growth erupting.
Keeping the animal’s teeth & tongue off the wound is essential to healing; a cone collar, a cervical ring pillow, a vet-wrap bandage covered by a sock & connected to another sock on the opposite uninjured foot by elastic crossing the spine (using mitten clips to secure the sock tops to the bridging elastic) are all things i’ve used b4 to make the hot-spot impossible to mess with.
Absorbine, Jr, is also helpful - it’s a nasty tasting OTC remedy in a glass bottle with a sponge daubing top, used to kill athletes’ foot, jock itch, prickly heat, & other opportunistic moist infections, whether fungal or bacterial. It is sold by most pharmacies & is widely available on line.
Dabbed AROUND, not dir3ctly onto, the broken skin of the hot spot, it tastes repellent —- & in later encounters, the animal usually recalls the distinctive odor, & will not lick or bite at it.
B/c it is alcohol based, it will sting badly if U get it into an open wound - so be carefun to “paint” around the hot spot, lick granuloma / acral lick dermatitis, spay sutures, etc. Put at least 1/4 to preferably 1/2 inch of whole skin between the Abs-Jr and any injury.
U are surrounding it with a no-go zone sign of nasty taste & peculiar smell.
HTH,
- terry
.
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ETA:
b/c his hot spot is atop his head, I would use a deliberately oversized cone collar to keep his feet entirely away from his head & face.
He cannot lick the top of his own skull, but other dogs or cats can do it FOR him, with their own tongues, or he can paw at it, or scrub it on the carpet, etc.
I would not leave him run with other dogs off leash until this is fully healed, which if it’s small (under nickel size) won’t even take a week. The hair doesn’t need to regrow, the skin just needs to scab, close, & drop the scab.
If U have a cat or any other pet that allogrooms with the dog, crate the dog when U are not home, & be sure they are in separate areas with an AIRLOCK between them, b4 U leave the house.
It should heal very quickly, once it is dry & safe from further trauma.
- terry
.
ETA:
b/c his hot spot is atop his head, I would use a deliberately oversized cone collar to keep his feet entirely away from his head & face.
He cannot lick the top of his own skull, but other dogs or cats can do it FOR him, with their own tongues, or he can paw at it, or scrub it on the carpet, etc.
I would not leave him run with other dogs off leash until this is fully healed, which if it’s small (under nickel size) won’t even take a week. The hair doesn’t need to regrow, the skin just needs to scab, close, & drop the scab.
If U have a cat or any other pet that allogrooms with the dog, crate the dog when U are not home, & be sure they are in separate areas with an AIRLOCK between them, b4 U leave the house.
It should heal very quickly, once it is dry & safe from further trauma.
- terry
.
Thank you all for your help. His fur is very thick on top of his head so I will clip that. We don't have any other pets and I will lead walk him so it won't get licked. I do have a cone so will use that because he scratched and drew blood yesterday
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1st-Aid strength hydrogen peroxide is cheap & helpful in many circs, IMO one of its best attributes is “degrading” quickly to become water, once it loses that loosely-bonded extra oxygen molecule.
To protect it from breaking down & losing its disinfecting power, I open my bottles by 1st removing the cap, & setting it aside; then I sterilize a pin, using a rubbing-alcohol wipe, then with that disinfected pin, I carefully puncture the center of the FOIL SEAL covering the mouth of the bottle.
I leave the seal intact, & only that tiny pinhole will allow air into the bottle of H2O2; that slows down the oxidation r@te considerably, & extends the useful life of my pint bottle.
I used to buy large bottles, but then I realized that long before I used up the H2O2, the quart bottle’s contents were nonreactive & dead; the oxygen ion had flown off, leaving me with an expensive bottle of water.
So now I buy SMALL bottles, & replace them as soon as they begin to degrade.
HTH,
- terry
.
1st-Aid strength hydrogen peroxide is cheap & helpful in many circs, IMO one of its best attributes is “degrading” quickly to become water, once it loses that loosely-bonded extra oxygen molecule.
To protect it from breaking down & losing its disinfecting power, I open my bottles by 1st removing the cap, & setting it aside; then I sterilize a pin, using a rubbing-alcohol wipe, then with that disinfected pin, I carefully puncture the center of the FOIL SEAL covering the mouth of the bottle.
I leave the seal intact, & only that tiny pinhole will allow air into the bottle of H2O2; that slows down the oxidation r@te considerably, & extends the useful life of my pint bottle.
I used to buy large bottles, but then I realized that long before I used up the H2O2, the quart bottle’s contents were nonreactive & dead; the oxygen ion had flown off, leaving me with an expensive bottle of water.
So now I buy SMALL bottles, & replace them as soon as they begin to degrade.
HTH,
- terry
.
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I walked a golden retriever who had a hot spot on his paw. It was so sore because he kept licking it. I cleaned it with hibbiscrub and then made him wear the cone of shame and it healed really quickly.
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We've used Sudocrem in the past on a hotspot, as recommended by our vet (that said, he also got an antibiotic injection too).
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Even if he's stopped, watch him like a hawk! And if you are at all suspicious you can tape a padded nylon 'popsock' over the paw(s) he scratches with. We did that overnight for about a week after our old boy was on the mend.
I really like the pop sock idea. He really hates the cone.
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Mine too!
K
Kara 1
Guest
I use the inflatable cones for my lot
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Figo has just got over a hot spot on his neck, I shaved the hair away to allow the air to get to it, washed every day with hibiscrub, and got a anti bacterial cream from vets to apply, depending on the severity of the hot spot it may need anti biopics , you need to make sure the dog does not scratch it as it will be sore and itchy.
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