Hey guys...

So once in a blue moon, Koda or Hailey gets a hot spot. Koda just got one on his chest, upper left front leg. He can definitely lick it so we've been spraying with a topical the vet gave us a while ago and using the cone. However, it really seem to ITCH him.

Does anyone know of any home remedies or even over-the-counter stuff that is safe to use on dogs for itching/irritation? The spray I have is an antiseptic... but I don't have anything to help him with his discomfort.

Thanks in advance

I've always used hydrocortisone for itching. Being home all day I can keep the dogs from licking it. When I couldn't be there I'd put something over the site like a shirt or bandana or dog sweater in the case of my chihuahuas if that would prevent them from licking it.

Huskyluv wrote:

I've always used hydrocortisone for itching. Being home all day I can keep the dogs from licking it. When I couldn't be there I'd put something over the site like a shirt or bandana or dog sweater in the case of my chihuahuas if that would prevent them from licking it.

I can do hydrocortisone with the cone.

Koda will eat the t-shirt. He is an OCD licker. He will continue licking until the t-shirt, bandage, whatever is just gone.

Hi all. I'm going to dig up this old thread because Dizzy now has a hot spot. Last night I trimmed the fur around it and cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and put some neosporin on it. Poor guy had to wear the cone of shame too. It looked a lot better this morning. The thing is, it seems like it was hurting him when I was working on it last night and I'm wondering if it's normal for a hot spot to cause pain. He also seemed stressed and in pain after our walk last night, but before I worked on it. He was just laying in his bed panting. I could just tell he was hurting somewhere. It could be he was just tired and sore from daycare, but I felt bad for my little buddy. The location worries me a bit too, it's about an inch away from one of his incisions from his neuter. The incision is completely healed and looks great. I'm thinking it's probably just because he's been licking near the incision, but it makes me a little nervous. Anyway, is it normal for a hot spot to cause pain? I have to take him in for a vaccine tomorrow so I'm going to have the vet check it out, but just curious what others have found.

I'm pretty sure it was caused by a food change, so I've taking that out of his diet and he seems better in other ways. Although, I'm not sure how long the hot spot has been there, so I can't be 100% sure. He had gotten gooey, watery eyes, and was chewing on his feet. He was only on that food for about a week, so thankfully no real damage to his feet. After taking him off of orijen, his eyes stopped gooing, and he's not itching his feet any more.

Bottom line:

How long will it take to go away?

What else can I do for my bud?

Do hot spots normally cause pain?

I think they can cause some pain, especially maybe the spot that it is in. When Siku was getting them quite often at the beginning of this winter, my vet prescribed me a spray on steroid to make it so he was comfortable. Although I never actually used it, I considered it quite a bit because he just wouldn't want to leave it alone. I'm sure its more the itching and annoyingness of it than a lot of pain. Plus if he is wearing a cone and can't reach it anymore, it might just be stressing him out.

I just kind of waited ours out, since I couldn't figure out exactly why he was getting them out of no where. I gave coconut oil, but that obviously isn't a quick fix, so I don't have any suggestions for that.

Thanks! Hopefully the vet will give me something. I feel bad for my little bud!

Yeah, plus the peroxide might of hurt him some. My vet just said just clean it with water if you have to, and then make sure to keep it nice and dry at all times.