Hot Spots? its a scabby thing.

My dog has a huge sore (3 cm X 4 cm) on the top of her head. It was itchy, nasty-looking, scabby, and infected. We took her to the vet and they gave her some steroids for the itch, and other stuff for the infection. WE took her today and they decided that they needed to operate. its going to cost 800 dollars to remove. Is there a name for this thing? Is there an alternate wa to get rid of it?

 

Hi and welcome

I would get a 2nd opinion, I have lab that is just recovering from his latest hot spot, much bigger than that, it covered the whole side of his face. I havnt heard of an operation being done unless mabye its like really absessed and needs to be drained or something, there are a few vet techs here and hopefully they can some thought on this they should be familiar with operating for hot spots.


it is pretty nasty. Hot spots are caused by a staph infection usuually caused by flea bites, or poor diet. and can go from the size the size of your thumb nail t your size in a matter of a few days if not treated.

Jakes treatment was they shaved the whole area, cleaned it, gave a steriod shot for itching, and this time they put him on an antiobotic called TMS, I think its a sulpher based antiobotic. And he had to wear his cone to keep him from scratching.
I would talk to the vet about how long on antbiotics too. Jakes came back righter he went off and doing soem research, Many recommend depending on how it is a 3 weeke treatment.

here is a good site for info


http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/a ... p?artID=84

and another one, excpet his sone says to wash with peroxide, my vet said a big no-no makes it worse and had me wash it with betadine

http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/a ... p?artID=84

please let us know what you do

honeybear

 

Thanks a lot. I think it might be a hot spot. It was oozing and extremely crusty and itchy. The vet shaved the crust off and was really red. Maybe Bailey wont need surgery after all. The operation is scheduled for tuesday. So Jake didnt need surgery. The Vet had no idea what it was. She had one before on her hip but that wasn't as bad as this. She was also sprayed by a skunk like 4 weeks ago. Shes had the thing for like 2 weeks. Did the skunk do something? mayve who knows. Thanks again.

 

sounds like what my friend's dog just had and that was a staph infection...is it oozing smelly stuff? Antibiotics helped her dog w/in days

 

If you saw those pics of that one dog and its ear that is what jake looked like. Hot spots may be reare where you live. I dont think the skunk cause it since it was 4 weeks ago, if he had a reaction it should have been imediate, hot spots dont fester that long, they pop up like the size of a pin and and in the matter of hours can be the size of a qaurter and the next day can be the size of your fist.

Jake gets them a lot, about 3 a year, unfortunately. this one was triggered by a tick bite. it si treatable by shaving the area, keeping it clean, andantiobotics, AND NO SCRATCHING. This is the most critical part. there are times I agave him a reprieve, the scab would be almost gone, he would only be a few feet away from me and all it took was a few good scratches to make a bloodmess and start the process almost from scratch. I tis imperative he wears a collar to prevent scratching.

You should notice an almost an imemediate difference once he is on antiobotics and the steroid helps with the imflmation and itching. Jut a day after getting Jake treatment and starting his antiobotics, he looked like 70% better

so you should see a great improvment and thats give you an indication you dont need surgery

what antibiotics is he on?

honeybear

 

here is a pic of Jakes hot spot from a few months ago




and here is the one he is getting over now, this was the next day, after the vet but, it was so much better. see tha round wound kind of right bottom tht was the original sore and then it just spread

 

Ive never heard of doing surgery on a hot spot but they can end up as severely nasty infections, I think honeybears has covered everything you need to know and need to do, basically by scratching the already irritated area continuously they introduce bacteria into the skin so it wont go away and will continue to get worse, the cone (e-collar) is essential as are the oral anti-biotics, sometimes topical anti-biotic cream and the cortisone will help ease the itching. Oh and the hydrogen peroxide, I dont know any vets that use that any more to clean out wounds, it stings when you use a little too much, it will break up clots if theres been any bleeding and from what Ive been told (by vets) it actually hinders the healing process. Betadine is what weve almost always used for wounds.

 

Ya the one of Jake a few months is EXCATLY what Bailey's is. Shes on Cephalexin.

 

Good luck, a few days on cephalxin (jake was on that with the small outbreak) and she will feel much better along with the steroid to help wth the itch, just cant stress enough of keeping the cone on until the scab is fully gone and the wound healed.

I would watch her closely in future for any sign of another outbreak, because usually there is an underlying cause to trigger them again. I would make sure she is totally flea free too.

Jakes are always on his head for some reason, and the one he is getting over now is the first time his was triggered by a bite, ( I think his is combo air allergen/ diet related) so I have changed his diet.

honeybear

 

I just went through a similar thing with our Malamute. She had a huge hot spot on her neck, just behind her ear. But in the center of the hot spot was a sebaceous cyst that had gotten infected, and that caused the hot spot. We did have to have the cyst removed. It was done with mild sedation and a local anesthetic, though. She was in and out in a couple of hours, which saved on hospital expenses.

 

I have been using a product called Calm Coat on both my horse and dogs here and there for a while now...it's wonderful stuff! I even used it on a rash I had on my hand and it worked great. What you are talking about may be beyond the scope of Calm Coat(especially if it's a staph infection) but I have heard of it being used on pretty serious wounds and healing nicely. It takes the itch out and heals. If what your dog has is a hot spot the steroids are a temporary solution...you will need to find out what is causing it or it will re-occur time and time again. Emu oil is also pretty good stuff.