Hot Spot on Your Dog? Do This First

Acute moist dermatitis or hot spots in dogs. Sometimes this can be difficult to treat. There's some new treatments. I'm going to show you all of the top ones in this video. Are you looking to learn more about natural pet health and wellness? You've come to the right place. Click the link to subscribe to Veterinary Secrets. So a hot spot is also known as acute moist dermatitis and what it is it's a bacterial and it's a bacterial infection of the hair damage. So a classic example would be a dog like Murdoch who's just gone for a quick swim in the lake maybe he's got a little scratch on the side of his face and it just seems like almost within hours almost like the next day right he's just been really scratching at it and you see this red oozing area often the face is a common spot right it just looks like this you know a scrape that's gotten infected that is a hot spot so yes your dog has this problem especially if it's an ongoing problem you should be watching this video so first and foremost you need to make the right diagnosis to go to clearly identify is this a hot spot so it's this red oozing area of the skin right it's not just sort of a surface abrasion or infection you know like i've got here this little abrasion no it's this pussy looking area that's red and inflamed it's typically very tender sore sort of touch your dogs don't really touch it very well it's kind of a bit of an odor to it oh i'm not gonna do anything i'm gonna do something to you Murdoch so if your dog has what looks clinic like that likely your dog is a hot spot here's some of the steps you consider taking a couple of caveats or things i wanted to mention not every looking plastic skin infection it's going to be a hot spot in some cases we have our dogs they have hot spots on the face especially under their ear typically and in some cases that can be much more serious deep infection it's more than just the surf surface treatments the superficial hot spot in other cases we can have not just only bacteria sometimes they can be fungi that are also infecting the hair follicle and that area of the skin so in those cases they're going to be dogs at number one they don't respond well the topical home remedies you're going to go and need to see your veterinarian you're probably going to need systemic medication likely a systemic antibiotic and or potentially a topical antifungal likely a systemic anti-inflammatory but fortunately for most of our dogs they respond to topical treatment so let's get going what do we do first Angus first step you need to clip or trim the hair around the hot spot the bacteria are thriving within the hair follicles hair will always grow back so first and foremost if you're going to stop that hot spot from spreading you need to clip the hair around it so we can go to the extent of the hot spot the extent of that lesion so you have a couple options here hopefully you have to have clippers i have clippers because i was a veterinarian and i'm still having my own animals having issues i want to make sure i can treat them so i have clippers if you don't happen to have clippers you can have some blunt scissors so regardless what you're doing if we imagine murdoch had a hot spot at the base of his ear we're just trimming this hair all around at the base of the hot spot as you can see right next to the skin being careful not to cut the skin and we're going all the way around the edge of the hot spot till the skin looks healthy and normal no longer red and inflamed so first and foremost we're trimming or clipping that hair then next we're going to be using some type of antiseptic scrub we're going to scrub the surface of that hot spot to get rid of that surface bacteria that surface inflammation the debris the white cells a couple of options here number one this is chlorhexidine this is the surgical scrub typically used in the clinic for surgery it does a great job of cleaning the skin removing all the surface bacteria you can pick this up in any pharmacy along with here we have some gauze a bit of the dilute chlorhexidine already on gauze which i like in a water formation and then i could just scrub the base of that clipped hot spot really well to clean it thoroughly or you can make your own antiseptic scrub and a really good option for dogs with hot spots begins with black tea about a half a cup of black tea quite concentrated sat for about 20 minutes and then we're going to add some type of soap to it so we can really scrub away the debris and the bacteria this is called all natural castile soap it's an oil-based soap out of coconut oil olive oil some of the other oils it's a great option for a natural antiseptic and you're going to add to your half a cup of black tea there we've got it castile soap or black tea diy surgical or hot spot scrub then you just scrub the base of your dog's ear wherever that hot spot is located really well i'm gonna scrub that super thoroughly what do you think we're a dog good boy yes either those options will work really well next some of the topical treatments we want this to number one be an astringent we want to dry up that excess moisture that's feeding the hot spot feeding the bacteria we want something topically that is antibacterial potentially antifungal we want something that also provides some anti-inflammatory relief as well this is one half a cup of concentrated black tea it is antibacterial so to kill the surface bacteria it's got some anti-inflammatory properties and as well right it's an astringent and help dry up that excess moisture so this is one half a cup of black tea and to that black tea we're going to add one regular strength aspirin this 325 milligram asa 25 milligram aspirin we're going to add that to this black tea we're going to crush it thoroughly dissolve it in the black tea so ready to topical treat so then it's just a matter of soaking a bit of this gauze in this black tea and aspirin mixture and then let's just take murdoch here then you just wipe the base of that hot spot right the full part of the hot spot all over it really you know thoroughly covering with the black teen aspirin you can easily do that four times a day and often i find this treatment alone works at least about 50 percent of the hot spots you thoroughly soak it with the teen aspirin four times a day three to five days there's a marked improvement black tea and aspirin so standby remedy number one number two the product of ionized salt water so this is a current run through ocean water it produces a product called hypochlorous acid it's also naturally found in our white blood cells and our dogs and cats white blood cells and they use it to kill bacteria so this is we've just figured a way to simply make it it's actually an all-natural non-irritating product works really well topically on the skin so this would be a good mild way to treat the topical hot spot right so you could just spray on instead of using that teen aspirin mixture if this is all you had hypochlorous acid hocl just spray that on topically all right you can easily do that four times a day hocl hypochlorous acid four times a day five to seven days from honeybees the wonderful nutrient isolated from those guys this is topical propolis or propolis spray propolis also known as bee glue it has some great anti-inflammatory antibacterial and even antifungal properties so to make a really good option for any of our dogs that have hot spots the one thing i want to ensure is if you're going to be using a topical spray ensure it is not an alcohol-based one because that's really going to sting especially if you can imagine you've been oozing open wound you don't want any alcohol on it so i'm sure it's a non-alcohol base but propolis is a really really good option and i've seen a number of dogs respond really well just alone to topical propolis so it's just as simple as you know getting the propolis spray camera murdoch wants to show us how to do it and i would just just spray that area right like and easily do that four times a day comes out has kind of a nice pleasant smell to it and the fact that it doesn't sting it works against the bacteria can decrease the local inflammation or potentially against a fungal infection as well as and being anti-inflammatory it covers all bases a really good option is just a standalone treatment for any dog that has a hot spot this is witch hazel with aloe this is an old old remedy was actually an indigenous treatment and worked really well for topical skin infections and we find which hazel itself this shrub itself all throughout north america almost considered potentially local it's an astringent so it'll help dry up all that excess fluid it it on its own has some anti-inflammatory properties but with the aloe makes a really good anti-inflammatory and it can help deal potentially with some of the surface skin infections so witch hazel with aloe on its own can actually help many of our dogs that have hot spots so just ensure that you soak your gauze thoroughly with witch hazel with aloe as we've done and then you're just going to wipe the base of that hot spot really well right you can easily do that four times a day is just ensure that the witch hazel you get is one not alcohol-based it's a water-based because once again we don't want any alcohol in that wound to sting next this includes an anti-inflammatory an antibacterial as well as a potent antifungal in combination i would more reserve this treatment if we've got a dog that has a hot spot that just seems to be not responding to a couple of those different topical treatments that you've tried so they haven't responded to then you're likely potentially dealing with a little bit a little bit more of a serious infection obviously first and foremost be great if you go see your veterinarian if not then you could consider this as a treatment option so number one we're starting with this about one cup of green tea it's nice and concentrated green tea is antibacterial it's a potent anti-inflammatory just a good topical option in many cases you can substitute green tea or black tea but for this remedy i like green tea the next part of a remedy to include acv or apple cider vinegar the apple cider vinegar it is antibacterial really effective antifungal probably the most effective one that we have as well as having some anti-inflammatory properties but what we're finding in some of these dogs with this recurring hot spots they've got a slightly resistant bacteria potentially or a slight even a secondary fungal infection and majority of the other remedies we've discussed just don't do a great job of targeting say these resistant bacteria when some of the cases they're finding that apple cider vinegar is really effective for it we're going to be putting in two tablespoons of acv or apple cider vinegar of green tea now we're ready to go okay that's a treat just soak your gauze in that acv green tea mixture and first just just lightly damp it over top of the hot spot first like you don't want to just fully soak it just make sure it's not too sore for your dog if he or she's tolerating that okay once again you're doing that four times a day the reason we're doing this more often is you know these bacteria they're rapidly growing it can be really difficult to deal with the infection but if you treat four times a day often in three to five days and you just see this marked improvement green tea acv then the last remedy i wanted to discuss or add into all the topical treatments is the use of an over-the-counter treatment and if we're trying to help deal with this secondary surface inflammation and we have dogs that are just not responding they just want to continue to continue scratching it so then you could incorporate try to incorporate a very gentle topical corticosteroid you know such as one this one here with this one percent hydrocortisone so in all those topical treatments you could also add this in topically and then follow that up with layer of the one percent hydrocortisone if you're going to do that four times a day a small amount of this would be fine and even if you can only do it for two days would be great like the shorter time you can use the steroids the better because they get absorbed they have systemic effects also they'll potentially increase the risk of bacterial growth but we're initially what we're trying to do is decrease the inflammation we can stop your dog from scratching at it just really irritating and rubbing it then we can more likely have them respond to the topical treatments and then this hot spots can finally start to clear up then last but not least what to do for recurring hot spots how can you prevent this from happening well first and foremost think about just having a regular grooming routine for your dog regularly comb your dog first of all i think it's a great idea just to you know daily examine your dog especially during the summer doing the tick check is an awesome way and it's a good time to see is there a small skin lesion you can be on that skin lesion early so it doesn't blow up into a big hot spot it doesn't allow an area where the hair is matted if it gets wet it can stay wet near the base of the skin and often that can be a trigger for a hot spot it feels good for your dog and it's also a good way to check for fleas check for ticks it's a whole lot better you can find that little tick early before he's been on for 24 to 48 hours and spread any like disease organisms okay your dog's a big swimmer these guys are being labs you know just get them dried off as soon as you can right so they're we hope they're swimming in the summer it's pretty warm outside you got a place that you can thoroughly dry them off right just don't let that moisture sit on them for any extensive period of time then if you have a dog that has recurring hot spots you need to look at some of the underlying causes i mean first and foremost does your dog have any external parasites just make sure he doesn't have any fleas that can trigger the itching possibly he has environmental allergy possibly even has a food allergy if he's had sort of ongoing issues with itching and scratching i encourage you to do a proper food trial where you're feeding a unique type protein for a minimum of eight weeks he's not any excess treat any other treats and a protein he's never had before such as something such as you know fish and sweet potato is one good option then lastly for dogs that potentially have environmental allergy which is so so common yes there's the whole host of new conventional treatments atopica, april quill, sedapoint etc etc etc with all their potential side effects we don't need to go into those but there's a couple of just simple holistic ways or ways i encourage you to start with first ensure your dog is on something like these a good quality omega-3 fatty acid supplement the eva's just have huge evidence to be beneficial for skin disease potentially preventing recurring hot spots we want to have high enough doses 500 milligrams for 25 pounds of body weight daily these guys like angus and murdoch they'd be getting somewhere to 750 to a thousand milligrams of the omega-3s a day we want high doses of the omega-3s you want to ensure that the skin is healthy not prone to damage right and if have underlying allergies we know this can decrease that level of inflammation decrease the chance of the itching leading to a hot spot and then next consider a natural antihistamine anti-inflammatory which has been working really well for many of our dogs who do have environmental allergies none other than this bioactive kerosene kerosene is that flavonoid that's isolated from kale it's isolated from apple from onion we can find it in black tea we can find it in green tea but when we put it in a concentrated capsule like this it provides some great allergy project protective properties acts like a natural antihistamine we're seeing many of our dogs respond really well to it we want it to be the bioactive form so this is a whole plant extract from the sapora from the japonica plant here the flower so it looks like this you see this kind of bright green it's a natural flower extract we're looking at doses of 50 milligrams for 15 pounds of body weight daily so angus and murdoch they'd be getting about 150 milligrams twice a day right if they had especially allergies especially those leading to recurring hot spots two supplements i'd most point point you towards to start make it through fatty acids bioactive kerosene but the one last bonus treatment i wanted to show you propolis in oral capsules so if we have a dog with a bit of a deeper infection and your dog isn't responding topically you could also try giving them oral propolis so this is also known as bee glue bees make it to reinforce their hive it's got some great antibacterial properties i'm seeing many of our dogs respond quite well to it and it's also being considered and it's actually really safe we're seeing very few side effects pretty standard dog dose about 100 milligrams for 10 pounds of body weight daily angus and murdoch you know close to 80 pounds i'd be inclined to give them one 500 milligram capsule twice a day i'd do that probably for a good 14 to 21 days smells like honey i've used it myself i have a sore throat right now so i'm on propolis myself tastes pretty good and this would be if we've got a dog not responding topically maybe a deeper infection number one you've just got to ensure that yes it is a hot spot then number two that you're starting from step one you need to properly click and clean that hot spot disinfect it use the appropriate topical treatments being really thorough and if it's not improving please go see your veterinarian you know because some of the vets are saying upwards of 25 30 percent of the cases these are deeper infections which require some type of systemic treatment thanks so much for watching this edition of veterinary secrets of hot spots and dogs or the hot spot update click up there to subscribe hit the bell icon for notifications and when you click that link directly in the box below i can send you a copy a whole bunch of those flaring up right now some new treatments i'm going to show you