Golden Retriever HOT Spots

[BAKERMAN]

My Two young Goldens now have what the vet terms HOT SPOTS...They both got pimples under their hair and then the Ooze began...The vet shaved them and then told us to bathe that location a couple of times each day with an anti-something she gave us...She says that many dogs get this and you need to stay ahead of it or it will get very infected and have a long term effect on the dogs...

Wondering how many others have this issue with their dogs? It was a large vet bill and any insight into how we can prevent in the future would be very appreciated...

Thanks in advance

Bakerman

[LABS4ME]

Really common in Goldens... not sure what preventative measures you can do... but I did hear certain foods promote hot spots... This was a question that should've been posed to the vet when you were there...

Hopefully others with hot spot experience will chime in.

Good Luck!

Ken

[BAKERMAN]

Thanks Ken....I will call the vet this morning and try to get this question answered....

Craig

[Ole54868]

My Female Golden Retriever had that happen to her and it was from the dog food. Changed food and have never had the problem again. My vet told me to shave it and gave me some powder to put on it and told me to keep it dry and it healed just fine in a week or two. I can't think of what the powder was called but I will look, I think I still have it and let you know.

[alg]

My last golden lost most of her hair underneath, and never did get better when she died at 12. I'm picking up a golden puppy in a couple of weeks and am concerned about this. Ole54868, I would be very interested in the food you switched from and to that helped, and also what the powder was. I live on a lake, and my golden spent a lot of time in it. I often thought that may have been the source, don't really know. Had her to the vet many times for the problem. Tried cortisone shots. Benadryl three times a day. A topical spray. Special shampoo. Nothing seemed to help.

[Ole54868]

I feed my dogs Eukanuba Sporting dog food to my dogs. I tried a couple bags of Canidae and then my female got a hot spot so went back to Eukanuba and have not had a problem since.

I have a friend that has a golden pup from a litter of mine and all he feeds is Canidae and he has not had a problem at all so maybe it was just something with my female because my male never got a hot spot from it. I will look at the powder tonight and post it in the morning.

[rcook72]

I googled hot spots when it happened to my lab the first time. Most sites talked about improper grooming especially with dogs with long coats like goldens and thick coates like Labs. I think it said that is was caused from a bacteria from when the dogs start to shed their undercoats and the fur gets stuck down or matted to the skin. I bought a furminator brush and he hasn't had the problem in 3 summers. I brush him alot and he loves it.

[BAKERMAN]

Thanks to all of you for your insights....the grooming issue may be due to the fact that we live on a lake and we cannot keep the dogs out of the water...We have used a furminator brush for the last few years also, maybe we need to make sure we dry them immediately upon gettting out of the lake and then furminate them when we have them dry...

We are trying a change in dog food too..

We will try anything to not make the dogs go thru this again

Again Thanks to everyone for their insights

Craig

[Ole54868]

This is the powder that I got from the vet its for horse wounds i think but sure took care of the hot spot on my female.

Exuiphar Mckillips powder I think the the name of it is Vedco from what I can tell on the bottle. Our vet told me to shave it and keep this powder on the spot to keep it dry so we put it on several times a day for a week or two until it was healed.

Hope that helps you guys.

[Ole54868]

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[Duffman]

This issue was just brought up on another board that I frequent, so I borrowed the following text from there. Thanks Beth.

"Hot spots are known medically as staph dermatitis. Dogs have a normal bacterial flora on their skin called Staphylococcus Intermedius, unless they changed the nomenclature in the past ten years or so. When a dog gets an irritation in the skin (bug bite, flea bite, ingrown hair or whisker - these are common on their cheeks, scratch, etc), the subsequent itch breaks the integrity of the skin, and the normal surface bacterial flora start to feed on the goodies (serum, fat, proteins, etc) of the underlying dermal layers, and these hot spots can literally explode overnight from a dime-sized spot, to a huge sore, extending down the face and neck, or wherever they formed. Not all dogs gets hot spots, and some dogs experience worse reactions than others, depending on their sensitivity (or hypersensitivity). (Just like some people react strongly to flea bites and mosquito bites and pollen - immune-mediated stuff - very interesting).

Anyway, the best protection against the hot spot is to use quality flea and tick preventative products recommended by your veterinarian rather than the Wal-Mart employee in Aisle nine (because the otc products do not work, plain and simple, and they are dangerous if applied incorrectly or to the wrong species)and keep a SHORT coat on your dog (even shaving short-coated breeds in the summer) to reduce wet hair and odor to attract bugs and avoid an ideal environment of bacterial overgrowth. However, be careful, because some of the most common hot spots start from "clipper burn" when the groomer gets a little too close with the clippers, and shaves a sensitive area. Ouch!

The best treatment for a hot spot getting worse, not better, is going to have to be systemic (oral, not topical), and sometimes oral isn't even fast enough, meaning you need an injection. This is where having a good, trusting relationship with your regular veterinarian can really benefit you and your dog when doing wilderness trips and assembling a first aid kit for your dog. If your dog is prone to skin problems, especially allergic dermatitis, see a vet before you go, and be prepared to treat this problem when you're three paddling days away from veterinary care. "

Good luck