Another hot spot remedy to try

[TripleXBullies]

I've had a 3 year old 70lb female with a hot spot for the last 3 months at the base of her tail. She's had a few fleas, but has not been overun at all.. She's an inside dog and the house is ok too, so none of my 8 (all semi-inside) have too many... I've been giving ALL of my dogs garlic powder in their food since early spring and haven't had ANY flea problems until the past 60 days or so. They haven't been horrible in that time.

She's shown a sensitivity to something..... to the point where the hair was thinning up to a foot towards her neck on her back in front of her tail and down her thighs a little. She didn't seem miserable, but didn't seem to like it much.

I gave her some bendaryl and bathed her well with flea shampoo.. only a few fleas to be found... she's nearly all white, so they're easy to find, especially when wet... Still no change.. still pink skin and thinning fur...

I tried what I've used before with some success in the past, Lysol concentrate, plain old Listerine, water and white vinegar as well as human fish oil pills, an extra dose of ivermectin and cheap dog vitamins from TS. still no change, but it didn't seem to be getting any worse.

She'd rub herself to scabs in a few spots.. Consulted my vet... asked about a few home remedies... he said for her size 2 benadryl 3 times a day, triple antibiotic (neosporin) for the open parts and hydro-cortisone cream in all other affected areas and if it didn't clear up in a few days he'd give her a shot of cortisone.. GREAT VET IN THE DALLAS AREA.. HELPS ME OUT ALL THE TIME!!!! Getting him a nice Christmas present!! LOL

No change... but she didn't get worse at least after 2 days...

Finally, I put about $5 of Tractor Supply flea med in the area (one pack left over from a 10lb puppy a few years ago that couldn't shake 'em) and started spraying her with about 50/50 water and non-distilled apple cider vinegar.... I added to that about 2 tablespoons each of extra virgin olive oil and bacon grease to her normal food along with the also normal garlic powder. I know I've heard that olive oil is good for the skin... and I know that when I eat a pound of bacon, my skin gets oily.... so why not???

Within ONE day I saw results. No more redness and what I thought seemed like hair regrowth. 10 days later still even more improvement.

I still see improvement and even went to add more cortisone tonight and found more fleas than before... She's not packed, but she has more than before. I sprayed her with more ACV watching them die.... b's....


Just thought I'd share... success for me!! And hopefully it might help you. Without having to pay the vet.. and most of all, my girl is getting better!!!!

 

[TripleXBullies]

Just to clarify.... This is only something to try.... From what I have read, experienced and heard from my vet...

Again... I hope it does some good for someone else.

 

[TripleXBullies]

Really.... No replies??? No one has experienced skin issues like this??????????

 

[MULE]

Kinda sounds like you might want to change her dog food to one that has a higher fat content. Some dogs need higher fat content to keep their skin from drying out, and the fleas would have just added to her aggravation. Or, pour a little melted lard over her food. Walmart sells it in 5 gal buckets pretty cheap, along with smaller sizes as well.

 

[TripleXBullies]

I feed diamond high energy. There's a good bit of fat in it.

 

[ch035]

I have found innova to be a great food. At 60 bucks a bag it was getting pricy so I switched to proplan. After 2 weeks all lacies hair was coming out in clumps. I switched her back to innova and never had another issue. I also wash my dogs with dawn once a month and it seems to kill the flea if they have any. Mine are inside dogs so they stay fairly clean. I know white bully breeds have more skin issues than others

 

[Retired Army Guy]

Its hard to be sure what your explaining if its a true "hot spot" or another skin condition. For Hot Spots I highly recommend a product called "Nu-Stock" Most feed stores carry it, its for horses and dogs. It works very well.

 

[littlewolf]

x2 on Nustock for hotspots. My dog gets both hotspots and the skin issues you describe. I am going to try a higher fat dog food and see if that helps with the dry itchy skin and thinning hair. NuStock is helping the hotspots.

 

[PREACHER MAN]

My puppy had the same problem and I started adding bacon/ sausage drippings to the food a while back, 2 tbs. a couple times a wk. plus I use a product called Benadine and rub it on the spot when I see it. the spots are completely gone ! Plus 5 brewers yeast tablets per day ! He also is on a great vitamin that I think has helped a lot. www.cellhealthmakeover.com GREAT PRODUCTS FOR YOUR DOG ! He is fed DIAMOND PUPPY BLEND !

 

[todds302]

My American Bulldog has real bad allergies and we are always trying new stuff for her, finally got the hair to stop falling out but she has little sores all over, we are giving her food that is all natural right now but she is still a mess. We have no flea issues. I think we can try the grease or olive oil and see if that helps

 

[PREACHER MAN]

I just save my wild hog sausage / rib / any meat drippings in a little cup and use them . The benadine is found at wal mart and is especially made for this. I also buy wal mart brand hydroc. cream and triple x antibotic cream. you just have to examine the dog daily and stay on top of it with the benadine. workeed for me !

 

[ninetyatews6]

My female has had similar issues. I have found that using flea shampoo dries her skin out even worse. It is alcohol based or something like that the vet told me. I too have used dawn. It seems to work.
I also started using tea tree oil shampoo. This seems to help her skin. She only gets spots at the base of her tail as seen in the photos.
My male just recently had issues this past summer we had. He ate up about 6 inches of his tail chewing something. I think my female is allergic to fleas to an extent. I feed black gold dog food by the way. (black bag)

 

[TripleXBullies]

Mine has spots like that, but she's also thinning elsewhere.. Put some triple anti-biotic and some hydrocortizone on that. I also really do feel the fat in the food helps.. at least bacon grease and olive oil. I don't bathe my girl often.

 

[Ga. Black Gold]

The Diamond High Energy food is your biggest problem. It's one of the cheapest made foods on the market. It's cheaper than their maintenance. What does that tell you? If your not hunting your dog, you don't need a 20% fat. It makes them very hipper.
With the problems most bulldogs have with skin and coat allergies, try a lamb and rice or a grain free product.
By the way, Diamond has just had another recall. This time with their cat food. Same problem that happened with their dog food a couple years ago.

 

[ninetyatews6]

The Diamond High Energy food is your biggest problem. It's one of the cheapest made foods on the market. It's cheaper than their maintenance. What does that tell you? If your not hunting your dog, you don't need a 20% fat. It makes them very hipper.
With the problems most bulldogs have with skin and coat allergies, try a lamb and rice or a grain free product.
By the way, Diamond has just had another recall. This time with their cat food. Same problem that happened with their dog food a couple years ago.

yea i forgot about other food. Before i started feeding black gold i was on pro plan. I fed the salmon kind of pro plan for help with the sensitive skin.

 

[GA DAWG]

My female has had similar issues. I have found that using flea shampoo dries her skin out even worse. It is alcohol based or something like that the vet told me. I too have used dawn. It seems to work.
I also started using tea tree oil shampoo. This seems to help her skin. She only gets spots at the base of her tail as seen in the photos.
My male just recently had issues this past summer we had. He ate up about 6 inches of his tail chewing something. I think my female is allergic to fleas to an extent. I feed black gold dog food by the way. (black bag)

Have you taken that top dog to the vet for a skin scrape test? That could be mange..Alittle ivomec for about 3 weeks may clear it up OR burnt motor oil...

 

[ninetyatews6]

no i didnt do a skin scrape but i did take her to the vet and vet said there is no way its mange. She chews these spots. After a couple of weeks they look normal again. 6 months later she will chew area and so forth. I use special shampoo for sensitive skin and keep hot spot treatment on there and she is good to go.