Dog Hot Spots: Save Your Pet the Anguish

Dog hot spots are not your pet’s erogenous zones, they are festering open sores which sometimes appear as blotches in fur. In layman’s language, dog hot spots are acral lick dermatitis, which feels just about as good as it sounds.

We take opposable digits for granted, but they are quite a marvel. All the evolutionary rage. What if all you had was hairy paws and really sharp teeth? You couldn’t thread a needle. Or use a remote control. Or even open a can of chili or flip a pancake. Fleas start biting you. With fingers, you could scratch your wounds lightly, so as to soothe them but not irritate the skin. Claws make this a tad bit tougher. You try not to use them. But man do those flea bites itch. You scratch them with your clumsy paws. They still itch. You nibble them. They still itch. You nibble them harder.

Soon the skin you are nibbling becomes chafed and irritated. The hair falls away. But man does it itch. More scratching. It dries, grows brittle. Itches more. Now nibbling. Then chewing. Soon it is blister-like, which of course only makes it more irritating, so more chewing. It is soon a festering wound.

Now imagine you are a Sasquatch. As one has never been discovered, imagining what it is like to be one may tax one’s imagination. You are covered in hair is the important one. Head to big toe on your big foot. Your warm, sweaty, furry body is a vacation resort for ticks and fleas and critters galore. On a good week (yes, Sasquatches have calendars) there are always some mites, but once in a while they crusade and invade you. . .

Who hasn’t seen hot spots on dogs? Not those you beer goggle at bars, we’re talking pets. Now that you’ve trotted a mile in your pooch’s padded paws, you hopefully see things from its perspective. The real solution to hot spots is a Cold War that never even allows them to warm. Get in character and be a dog again. Imagine the blissful life you would live if you had an attentive owner who helped provide relief right when you first itched, so you never had to start cannibalizing yourself in the first place?

Unfortunately, the exact cause of hot spots is not known. A list of postulated causalities includes: fleas, mites, lice, ticks, bacteria, fungi, ear infections, allergies, anal sacculitis or topical irritants. Anal sacculitis. Wow. That sounds pleasant. And is. Dogs have anal glands (humans so got jipped) that they use to mark their territory (jealous boyfriends so got jipped) and these can become inflamed, infected, or filled with puss.

Hot spots come in two species, mild superficial topical varieties, and those that are rooted deeper, under the skin, and are more wound-like. Which kind does your dog have? If you are even asking that question, you should be on the way to the vet. It is easy to be a cheap ass and put a visit to the vet off, and no, I’m not being paid to say this by any vet. If your anal sacculitis was seeping puss, would you want some tight wad to make you wait a week for a doctor visit, or obtain relief a.s.a.p.?