[KPoos]

We have our first hot spot and it's nasty. I'm taking Harry into the vet's office tomorrow but until then he's miserable and he stinks! It's obviously infected and I had no idea until 2 days ago that something was even wrong. I thought it was his ears (the smell) but today when I bathed him I noticed an oozing from the back of his head. I read some things online to do before I take him in tomorrow so I've shaved the area and put cold water and hydrogen peroxide on it. I have no idea what could have caused the hot spot in the first place. I have him on Blue Buffalo and honestly he's never had any skin problems until I put him on this food. He's been licking more and he now has this hot spot. Before the Blue he was on ProPlan the shredded chicken formula and we never had problems. He was on that for months. Could be he was bitten by something outside or he might be allergic to grass. It's so hard to tell. Advice is appreciated and I will update when we know more.

 

[tannerokeefe]

what is a "hot spot"? is it just an infected area on the skin? so sorry

 

[FUZBUTZ]

KPoos, Please see this thread.


Thread

 

[T o d d]

I didn't even know that was a hot spot and I made the other thread :fish: hehe.

Learn something new

 

[KPoos]

So did it end up being a hot spot? I shaved the area and put gentian violet on it. It's a messy treatment but the stuff is amazing for fungal infections and things that itch and yeast infections. He goes into the vet tomorrow.

We don't have those cat tail things here.

 

[T o d d]

He had a cat tail.

I don't know what a hot spot is then I guess still :fish:

 

[cbrand]

Honestly, I've never seen a Poodle have a hot spot the way a Golden does.

I wonder if this couldn't be a Sebaceous cyst. Poodles get these and they are like giant pimples. They get bigger and bigger. Sometimes they go away on their own, but sometimes they develop a head and POP! Yuck!

BTW... if you ever find one, restrain yourself from trying to pop it yourself. I did this with my first Poodle and I ended up with a nasty infected cyst that just got bigger. Eventually, I had to have it surgically removed.

 

[spoospirit]

I have never seen hot spots on any of our poodles. But, our golden gets them from late summer into fall every year. We treat her with medicated shampoo but she still pulls out her beautiful hair and licks incessantly.

 

[KPoos]

Well, vet says it's a hot spot and what a hot spot actually is is a bacterial infection of the skin. It's so vague and generalized that it could actually mean anything. He could have been bitten by a mosquito and scratched it until he was infected creating a "hot spot." He could have had a reaction to switching foods and been itching therefore creating a "hot spot." They gave him a cortizon shot and gave me antibiotics to give him for 10 days I think. It's already dried up a lot. The type of person I am makes me want to know what happened there so we can avoid it in the future but this is one of these things where you just don't get clear answers.

 

[BFF]

Well, that's frustrating. I guess if it turns out to be a one time occurrence, it is more likely a bite. If he starts getting more spots, then it seems like it could be his food. Sounds like only time will tell for certain.

Does he take Advantix? I've got little Zulee on it because it deters mosquitos, biting flies, ticks, lice and fleas.

Sounds like Harry is on his way to getting all better.

 

[KPoos]

No but I would like to find something that fends off mosquitos. I believe Frontline Plus does that too.