Hot Spots: Quick Spreading and Painful
by Patricia Feeser, DVM
Greenville Veterinary Hospital
Hot spots (acute moist dermatitis) are rapidly occurring sores that
occur on the skin of dogs. It is most commonly found on thick coated dogs
such as Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers during hot humid
weather. Often after swimming or being bathed, the dense undercoat does
not dry completely and the moisture allows the sores to get started. The
dog will chew or scratch the area and the superficial infection rapidly
spreads. In a matter of hours the sore can go from dime-sized to 6 inches
in diameter or larger. Quite often the owner finds the large sore first
thing in the morning where the night before the skin was normal.
To treat these sores, your veterinarian will probably clip and clean
the area, then apply an antibiotic and/or drying agent. If there is an
underlying skin infection, he or she may prescribe oral antibiotics as
well. He or she may also give a steroid medication to stop the itch.
Because they may be very painful, dogs with large lesions may have to be
sedated in order to humanely treat the sores.
Prevention of hot spots involves thoroughly drying wet dogs and
clipping thick coated long-haired dogs for the summer. If your dog
develops a hot spot, call your veterinarian immediately for an appointment
- small sores are much easier to treat than large ones.
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