Hi everyone

My poor 30kg rottie/retriever has some hotspots. The first time she's had them. We have been suggested to use evening primrose products to help. So, we bought evening primrose shampoo which I'm hoping will help. When it comes to adding primrose oil to her food, should we buy evening primrose oil or the capsules? Both are sold at my local pet store but not getting much of an idea as to whether there's any difference of whether it is purely down to preference on giving it to your dog. Thank you :)

Jo

Probably  better to use fish oil something like yumega it has both vit e and omega 3 in it and is great for akin.i use Nutremega from the vet for.tje same thing . If the hotspots keep reappearing it would be useful to consider allergies which you vet can help identify. Our hotspots have been muchuxh better since  working on the allergies.food first then environmental. Also hotspots need air to dry them so after shave the area and wash thoroughly try and prevent chewing and scratching . I have used many things on them but if if it isn't too bad spraying with collidal silver can help as can raw honey or manuka if it doesn't encourage licking . Yet tp try but flowers of sulphur can help to try them. I use one Nutremega capsule bit it's not a quick fix and u will still need to shave and clean the area. Some people clean the area with diluted hibiacrub or betadine

Hi there, thank you for your reply

Good luck hotspots are horrid . I've unfortunately had far to much experience if the flipping things

Well I definitely typed more than a quick thank you. My phone shows I only wrote one line in my reply lol. I had also written that I am going to look up yumega and I had also said that, being part retriever (and who knows what else!) she has very thick fur so may well need to shave the areas. She has hibiscrub from the vet. I wondered about food allergy too. Been recommended Eden to try.

My gsd is double coated and u need to shave the area with a margin asap. Wash  with diluted hibiscrub.i raw feed so tracking allergies is easier. Eden is one of the better kibbles and there is also Millie's. If that doesn't work and u still suspect allergies I would suggest help from a specialist it's a bit trickier finding food allergies if u feed kibbles.the other thing once u have found d out if it's food is too look at environmental allergies via blood tests. Hopeful u won't need to go that far

Weirdly my 10 year old GR has just had her first hotspot. Yumega oil is good- they do one for itchy dogs too, not sure if that might be better, perhaps ask the company. Evening primrose is also good, but I wouldn't give both at once.

With my girl I shaved the area and tried a variety of things, manuka honey one day, colloidal silver, leucillin, camrosa. Purely because I was being indecisive and believe they all have some merit to them as far as healing properties.

How old is she?

I've found there is no one thing g that stops them it generally seems to be better if u can get then to start drying

Sure way of drying and healing while stopping further itching is this spray. After trimming around hotspot and cleaning.....spray twice a day. I was amazed at the healing and drying over of this...wouldn't be without this for any cuts, scraps and hotspots
Sold on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vetericyn-Wound-Skin-Liquid-Spray/dp/B008YRN14S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469620515&sr=8-1&keywords=Vetericyn

I had the most horrendous case in Junr with our Peni on her face, probably started by Miss grabby adolescent mugging her Mum.

It spread like wildfire, and wasn't helped by the fact she fought tooth and nail when I tried to treat it ending with Vet sedation.

After it was shaved ( it had spread round her neck from the Elizabethan collar  I'd put on rubbing) and a whole tube of fuciphalmic ointment used, she then allowed me to treat it twice a day when it was no longer so painful.

Two months later the hair on face is fully regrown' but her ruff is a bit of a mess with different  coat lenghths.

Previously I have found hibiscrub ( to kill bacteria and/or yeasts/fungus) followed by wound powder  TO DRY IT OUT. If you get in quickly you can often avoid the need for vet treatment wit AB's and/or cortisone.

Agree drying out seems to work best.

To dry it out you can make a cup of black tea, allow it to cool and then add 1 soluble aspirin to it. You then bathe the area with it 3-4 times a day. The tea helps to dry it out and the aspirin stops bacterial spread. I am currently doing this on my boy - who has his 1st ever hot spot on his face and is refusing any help. It is helping but would be quicker if I could actually do it 3-4 times a day. Yesterday, he let me do it once....

> 1st ever hot spot on his face and is refusing any help. It is helping but would be quicker if I could actually do it 3-4 times a day. Yesterday, he let me do it once....

That was exactly what happened with Peni, and then I got the Cone on and it went from bad to worse overnight, so good luck.

I would also give prition too, to help the itchy irritation.
My old springer had one recently and I used hibiscrub to wash then just used self sticking pet bandage to stop him licking it when I wasn't able to watch him and gave piriton. Its now completely healed and dry but bald.

It is drying but then he scratches against my leg! yuck....

I think I will try some hydrocortizone(?) cream - apparently it really works...

My girl had one recently, I didn't know it was a 'thing'.  I've had dogs for 17 years and never seen it before.  She bumped her back on the dining room table and it became a red raw sore   Anyway I cleaned it regularly with hibiscrub, dried it and then sprayed it with 'spray on skin', it took about 3 weeks to heal and another 3-4 weeks for the fur to grow back (very short fur).  I hope we never get another one

Must be the week for.them .my gsd has a small one starting in her paw.thia time I .trying action medical grade honey and namdhainh to stop him chewing. Will see how it goes overnight. Each one seems to be different in what stops them. It's worse for us this time of the year and I am hoping to get through without using steroids .best year so far in 6 which is something

> never seen it before

Warm humid weather and a moulting coat seem to be the most likely time, and thankfully of the 10 dogs I have had in 20+ years have only had less than half a dozen of them, never more than once on any dog

Often underlying allergies are involved if they keep repeating. With my gsd it's environmental allergies which are worse at this time of year so it'd trying to keep on top of generalised itching too

With mine it's most often a minor injury such as accidentally caused by rough housing from naughty adolescents.

Our first golden had a massive hotspot on her chest caused by a tiny scratch. It recurred every summer for the following three years before disappearing for good. The vet called it 'wet eczema' and shaved the area, treated it with hibiscus and fucithalmic cream. This would be twelve or thirteen years ago.

That predictive text hibiscus lol hibiscrub I think u meant

Oops yes, I didn't even notice!

Opi got a couple and Veterinary Antibacterial Powder by Vetzyme did the trick beautifully,with shaving first.  Second cleared up much faster than the first which was treated with hibiscrub.

Just reading through this again as my bitch has come out with ANOTHER it's quite a frustrating problem. On her face this time.

Based on Facebook  reports, it seems to be a bad year for them, humid damp summer.

Picked my boy up from Kennels and he has a few hotspots.  I'd gave them piraton in case they flared up. He had only a tiny one left which had reacted well with medical shampoo, antihistamines and some extra fresh  food.
He seems very red in colour back hind legs not seen this before,another dry flaky area found along his spine plus red speckled bits in the folds at top of front legs. They mentioned a marmite they had in had also developed these flaky spots. I've given him 2 x tablets piraton when got him home a cool medicated bath. I also went shopping and got at our lovely L_ _ _store evening primrose oil capsules for him and me! (Returning sweats?)
I'm changing his food and his treats.
I'm concerned about why the fur inside of his legs and around bottom  has turned redand in 8 days., Why? The new kennel lady when chatting let slip he had been fine and eating anything and everything they had given him! Usually he has the same there as at home. I advised I'm looking at raw feed or cereal free kibble etc. She said Nature's way or chappie tinned!

My question is I'd read urine if allowed to sit in can 'scald' the fur?.. I'm worried now as

Not kept him on his usual food
Why has his fur changed colour so quickly and in different areas?

I read replies re omega oil capsules rather than evening primrose?

It sounds like he may have allergies either to something he is eating environmental or both. An elimination diet with vets help if u arnt a raw feeder would be my first step.as for urine burns it's possible but more likely allergy. Mine gets red around there and other areas if he has a flare up.its also an easy area to see.o mega 3 or dish oils but u need to include vitamin e with any pure omega 3. Things like Nutremega from the vet or one of yumega salmon oil range are good

Mine can redden his belly fur in 4 days by licking it, is he licking?

We have had an itchy summer as you know and urine played its part. In my experience it didn't colour the fur at all, but reddened the skin, but he doesn't have much fur there. Only the licking dyed the fur.

I'd keep an eye on the scaly, the vet who decided to treat mine for mange said it usually starts on the back or hinder legs with scaly flaky VERY itchy bits (she mentioned it in the context of mine not having any of those symptoms).

Another thought - if its the backs of the hind legs could it be whatever detergent they wash the kennels out with?

He usually has a red belly from licking.... I'd not noticed his hind legs at all before.  The flaky patch on back I'll check with vet re mange? Just amazed how his fur colour changed so quickly....

You could check if you're going anyway or just see how it goes?

My vet was checking his spine very carefully and said they often see a scaly red patch with hairloss there first if it's sarcoptic mange (his back was always fine). She ended up treating mine anyway (with stronghold) but he didn't have the classic signs she mentioned.

If he is usually licking his tummy and has just reddened his inner hinds too perhaps he was just a bit stressed out from missing you and has licked more accordingly?

I'll make app tomorrow.. I've started evening primrose for him and piraton 2x4mg twice day.... I think he may have been stressed and very hot

My 14 year old GSd is currently suffering with a yeast overload.  He has a white coating in both his ear flaps and an area at the base of his tail that started off with what I thought was a hot spot and treated it as such.  There was improvement but it never totally cleared up. He also had the red/brown colouration on the underside of his tail that I have since read is a classic yeast sign. I have to use a comfy cone when he's in the car because if he gets an itch he can quickly damage his skin to the point of it being red raw and bloody when I get him out even on the shortest of journeys.  Looking back he was always itchy after swimming during the warmer weather and swimmers ear was a regular pain in the backside, the right ear always worse than the left.  I think he's always had this yeast problem but I just didnt put two and two together.  This latest episode is the worse he's had and I think his age has played a part with it getting a hold of him.  It also started with the warm, humid weather.

He has lost some fur at the base of his tail site and the skin has blackened.  I spray colloidal silver on all the areas. The spray bottle stops me having to handle him too much as he's fed up with me doing this! I also bath him in colloidal silver pet shampoo.

He has a protexin DC capsule, krill oil (capsules), apple cider vinegar in his water and spirulina daily.  He is also on two homeopathic remedies, Merc sol (200) and Myristica (30).

I hope I can get rid of it and am praying for the cooler weather to arrive!