So I need help. Koda has formed the biggest hot spot I've ever seen on his chest. It's the size of a golf ball. :'( It is super raw and tender from his licking it. I think it's been irritated for a while but he just licked it raw today (must have, we pet him and coddle him too much and it's too large and in a noticeable spot for us not to have noticed it).

I'm taking him to the vet in the morning and for now I put some triple antibiotic ointment on it and put him in one of John's t-shirts, but does anyone have suggestions or tips on what to do? We just switched him back to TOTW but he was fine on it for years before switching to THK. I can't think of any changes in our environment that could be doing this Maybe the A/Cs in the house from the summer?

I'm one panicked momma and it looks awful. I already covered him or I'd get a picture, but I'm seriously concerned. So any words of advice or experience would be MUCH appreciated!! He's always so healthy for his vet visits.

Mya suffered from hot spots OFTEN when she was younger. I don't know what caused it, but the antibiotics and anti itch meds that the vet prescribed cleared it up within a few days.

Actually, Kody has a small one on his hind leg that I discovered yesterday.I don't see him messing with it,but we're definitely keeping an eye on it.

Poor Koda

With the heat we had and the tail end moisture from Himicane Irene don't be surprised if its a fungus infection. No problem vet will take care of that w/o to much trouble or expense.

Ever since our little flea battle, Frankie has been getting hot spots like crazy. It's usually above his tail, so I don't even see for awhile. He actually looks to see where I am to see if he can scratch or not because when I am around he doesn't dare scratch because that means another full body check, lol. I know he doesn't have fleas now, but he just started another hot spot. When we went to the vet he gave him antibiotics for the infection from scratching and prednisone to keep him from itching. I really didn't like the idea of the prednisone, but it helped. Now I try to get the spots early enough before infection and put some hydrocortisone cream on it and cover it up. It has been so rainy here, keeping him dry has been difficult. I think he is allergic to all bug bites in general. I'm trying to manage it the best I can, but rainy season in florida is a mosiquitos heaven.

Please let me know what your vet says. I would love to hear another's opinion, since I wasn't to fond of mine. I hope to see a new vet for our next check up this month.

You need to shave (or cut) the fur around the wound as close to the skin as you can with about an inch or 2 away from the wound. This will help it to stop spreading. You can also use some cortisone spray to stop the itch thus preventing him from licking at it. You might need to get an e-collar too. The only way that it will heal is if he leaves it alone. We see a lot of hot spots at the clinic this time of year. I got my cortisone spray at CVS, its called "Instant Cooling Itch Relief". hope this helps

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your advice and support. The vet opens at 8am tomorrow, so I'll be calling first thing to try and get him in as soon as possible. I feel awful He looks so uncomfortable, but the t-shirt seems to be discouraging the licking so we'll just have to make it through the night.

I thought about giving him some benadryl to help him sleep but we've never given it to him before and I'd hate to give him something while we're going to bed god forbid he reacted to it while we were asleep. Hopefully the poor guy will be able to relax. I'll try to get a picture for the morning, but it looks positively awful I thought he was shot or impaled himself when I first noticed it. It's seriously so red and raw!

Brooke- there's practically no hair left to shave anyway...

Thanks again everyone. You're the best!

Hope your vet visit tomorrow goes well tomorrow!!

We are two days ahead of you with a hot spot.
Bodhi had a dime sized hot spot on Tuesday and the next day it was a half dollar.
I took him to the vet Thursday morning.

My vet said that almost every dog in his office the last week he saw was for hot spots.
We are in the hottest part of our summer.
He shaved the spot, gave me antibiotics, prednisone and an e- collar.

Bodhi hates the collar. But the spot isn't raw today. Tomorrow is his last full dose of prednisone.

Interestingly, my vet said if the dog gets wet, husky fur traps the irritation and it festers.
He said salt water is the worst. Bodhi has been swimming a lot lately.

I know it looks awful and it must be very uncomfortable for the dogs, but it will get better.

Thanks, Michael and Len. That makes me feel a lot better and makes a lot of sense. With all the rain from Irene and then the leftovers from Tropical Storm Lee, we've had almost 2 straight weeks of rain so it's impossible for the dogs not to get wet.

Vet appt is at 10:40. I'll update everyone then. Here are some pictures:

I have no experience with hot spots but I'm following this topic to familiarize myself for reference.

I hope Koda's vet visit goes well and he heals up soon!

Back from the vet.

The hot spot was at least twice the size of my picture showed after they shaved it he said it could be allergies or even the food protein change that caused the initial irritation. They said we actually caught it early and it should be cleared in a few days.

He spoke with me about topicals and said it was my choice, but that he recommended the more aggressive antibiotics and prednizone because of his recent itching in the past few months and the severity of the hot spot. With the wedding coming up I agreed.

He said if Koda wasn't better by Monday to bring him in on Tuesday. We didn't get an e-collar because the t-shirt was working. They shaved it down and disinfected it. I'll take pictures later.

Poor Koda! Just a note about the prednisone, it will make the wedding planning more stressful. If there's any way you can hold off and it sounds like the vet made it sound optional, please hold off. It made Chili grumpy, depressed, thirsty and it made him pee every 2 hours. We had to set our alarm every night for every 2 hours to ensure we didn't wake up to Lake Chili (not his fault, prednisone is crazy). Unless it's a life or death situation, I won't give it to my dogs again.

I'd rather him not itch so much and have it heal quickly. I work from home so it's really no big deal even if I had to wake up every 2 hours, I'd rather do that then leave for our honeymoon with this still being an issue. Besides, starting in a week and a half I have the whole month off (not by choice) so there will be plenty of time.

Here's a pic of Koda sulking. I don't want to take the shirt off, so I'll get a pic of the shaved spot later.

Poor guy Mickey feels his pain! He's a fellow hot spot victim lol

Ouch...that does look painful...poor Koda He'll be fine in a few days though

I know exactly how you feel Kale had one on his face last fall... he HAD to have the e-collar cuz he was scratching itwith his back legs... it was gross Glad to hear that it will heal quickly

Shooooo-eeeeee!!! That looks like it smarts. We don't get them often, but it does happen every now and then. So far I've managed to catch them when they're about the size of a dime at most. My solution has always been Bag Balm. That stuff is like duct tape for dogs.