a hot spot is an irritated area on the skin. They can be caused by anything on the skin that irritates the dog enough to start scratching at it or biting at it. When the dog bites a spot raw, its called a hot spot. It can be from an allergy, a insect bite, a tick, flea, just an annoying spot that is bothering them, or anything that causes the itches. Some are really small and can be cleared up with some neosporin, others are so big that they make the dog absolutely miserable and the dog has to be hospitalized so it can be put on meds to calm them down.
I remember this one golden retriever puppy that came in as an emergency case after hours. THe puppy had been swimming in the lake and the owners thought they dried him off properly but they didn't. The lake water irritated his skin so bad that he scratched all the hair off the right side of his neck, head, ear, and shoulder. the skin was SO raw that the puppy just sat there and cried. a collar couldn't be used, so we had to leash him around the waist. The puppy was so miserable and in so much pain that we hospitalized him, gave him some pain meds to help him out, and slathered him with amimax cream to help with the itches and bacteria.
__________________ Kellie  and  Morgan |