Do any of you out there have dogs that suffer from the dreaded HOT SPOTS and have found ways to combat these, i.e change of diet, shampoo etc. Alfie was at the vets again last night with the 3rd one in a year and yet again had to be shaved and given antibiotics etc. Although i really like my vet, all she ever says is 'he's a shepherd, get used to it' but i'm sure there must be something i can do to limit the amount of these he gets. It always appears in the same place, where his back meets his tail and is so sore it drives him mad so today he is dealing with the hot spot and also a rash from the clippers used to shave him and is feeling really sorry for himself. I would be most grateful for any advice :-)

Hi Mich

I am intrigued by these HOT SPOTS, I have 2 GSD but I have never heard of them, are they actually "Spots"??

They're 'spots' as in 'areas' - I've seen then several inches across, and very distressing for the dog. :(

The reason I asked as recently my eldest bitch has been licking the inside of her front leg, it is a bit red but I wasnt sure if it was a comfort thing as we have a puppy that she is a bit jealous of.  Maybe it is one of these Hot Spots

Hi Kizzy, sorry i didn't explain it very well did i. The only way i can describe it is it looks like eczema but is wet and weepy and really really sore and the only indication we get that another one is coming is when Alfie starts chewing at it. The one he has at the moment is about 2 inches wide and has got infected which is obviously really painful. I think that shepherds are prone to them because of the dense coat and also the fact that a lot of them have really sensitive skin. He is wearing one of those huge collars at the mo to stop him getting at it but they have shaved a huge circle of hair away (about 6 inches) and its very itchy, bless him he has only just grown the hair back from the last time!

Hi Mich
I used to work for a vet who swore blind it could be cured once and for all with a diet change (i.e. it is a form of food allergy) -and she did indeed cure hundreds whilst I was there including my own. What she said was the big no no was any type of dry complete food, but essentially the main thing was to reduce the protein in the diet. I would definitely try a different food even if you just change to another brand with different ingredients.

Thanks Goldmali that's a great help, Alfie is indeed on a dry complete food but the other problem we have is that as well as having sensitive skin he also has a very sensitive stomach so i have to be really careful what we feed him. Any ideas?

Thanks for your advice too Spender - i have tried the salt water but sadly it progressed into this really awful looking sore, maybe i am not getting to them in time. Alfie is long coated and has a really thick coat and even though i brush him every couple of days i never see these spots until they have turned nasty.

Hi Mich,

I had a dog who suffered from occasional hot spots which if ignored quickly turned wet, sticky and itched like mad.  What I found (through help from a breeder friend) was that brushing could exacerbate the problem and so I began to use a wide toothed comb on the area that was prone to being affected (still brushed the long coat elsewhere).  After starting on that regime he never suffered from the problem again ;)   May just have been coincidence of course but I've heard of others have similar success.

Re diet sensitivity, try and find a food that has minimal ingredients and is free of wheat, dairy, maize/corn and gluten.  Ideally only containing one protein and one bulking agent such as rice or potato.  Burns or Wafcol (dry) or Nature Diet (moist) are excellent foods with no artificial colourings, additives etc.

HTH, regards, Teri :)

Thanks Teri, i had wondered if i was making it worse by brushing it, i will try a wide comb in future. Thanks for the diet advice, i have heard others talking about nature diet and i will give that a go although i am not sure if he will take to moist food as he has never had it before but i suppose it is all trial and error.

I'm just wondering, I've never known a hot spot appear when a dog uses his claws to scratch, only when he chews the skin. I don't know if that's of any relevance or does anyone else has any experiences to the contrary?  

>I'm just wondering, I've never known a hot spot appear when a dog uses his claws to scratch, only when he >chews the skin. I don't know if that's of any relevance or does anyone else has any experiences to the contrary?

One VERY common place for hot spots is on the cheeks, so no chance of licking/chewing there. :)

Thanks for that, I wasn't too sure.  :-) So, they are possibly allergy related then?  Interesting, I've never had a dog with them apart from that one with Spender a few months back. I note he was chewing at that area which was making it a lot worse that it was.  To be honest I thought he'd caused it by chewing to get at his anal glands.

Spender had which looked like hot spots a few months ago.  Just at the base and to the side of his tail.  The first one he's ever had in 10 years.  A couple of days later, another appeared or it seemed to be spreading. Anyhow, we clipped the hair, bathed the skin in salt water, dried it, put some cream on and it cleared up.  We also emptied his anal glands.  He is prone to the odd cyst though.  My other GSD has never had a skin problem.  

Mine get them occasionally and I shave the area, clean it with hibiscrub then dab on gentian violet daily and they clear up in no time. looks pretty purple for a time though.
Amos

I apply benzyl benzoate and it's dry the following morning.  Not had one since I've been feeding mainly BARF though.

Have a look here:- www.postalpetproducts.co.uk and look at the eaglepack foods, it says that the lamb & rice is good for hot spots and other problems, it might help.