r/EnglishSetter • u/Minute-Enthusiasm-15 • 9d ago
Hot Spots
My FIL bird dogs live at my house since I have space and room for them. One of them continues to get hot spots. They heal and are good for about a week then more pop up. I’m using a medicated ointment for them. Looking for suggestions on what to do? She has longer hair. I’ve thought about shaving her but don’t want to cause razor burn on her skin as it is already irritated. I’m at SAHM so any ideas are welcome. After my daughters nap today I plan to bring her into our dog shower and bathe her and allow her to cool off inside for a bit. I have a medicated shampoo. Our family dogs have been Beagles and Currs. They’ve always lived in doors. I’ve never had to deal with this. Thank you so much!!!
ETA: We live in FL, she’s in a covered kennel with fans.
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u/MunsterSetter Tri-color Llewellin 9d ago
First you have to determine the hot spot cause (there are several). It can be allergy, scabies, mange, granuloma, chiggers, and any range of flies (especially in FL), or just bored/nervous lick behavior. All of them are curable except for granuloma, which is manageable and can be contained. What's annoying is it can start as any of the bites or parasites etc. but then the dog gets addicted to the licking behavior and keeps it aggravated. Breaking the cycle takes patience, consistency, and often distracting the dog from settling on licking. There are any range of farming/veterinary products that'll do the job after you determine the cause: ichthammol, Happy Jack mange medicine, Bag Balm, Hemp Salve, etc. Another problem you'll encounter is that dogs will like the flavor of some treatments and lick at it even more. That's why we like using ichthammol or Happy Jack because it's so disgusting even dogs who eat garbage or shit won't touch it. You can use Vet Wrap if the spot is on an extremity, although air is best for cooling and drying. My sister had an LM who had a toe injury severe enough that the toe had to be amputated. He licked at the wound excessively. She hit on the idea of treating it with collagen gel (it's not cheap) and then putting a mens wool work sock on the paw and securing it with Vet Wrap. It worked great. He could run around and it didn't come off, and he didn't try to take it off either. I had a Setter who had grass pollen allergy aggravated by damp (this can definitely be an issue in FL) and would get bouts of folliculitis if we didn't stay on top of it. Folliculitis will be mostly itchy rash on the chest and belly, but can become hot spots if it goes on long enough. Treat folliculitis with 2 courses of antibiotics (21 days of Z pack) and Betagen spray twice a day.
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u/Minute-Enthusiasm-15 9d ago
My in laws are on vacation returning Tuesday. I’ll arrange with them a trip to the vets office. I’m not sure if it happened last summer but I seem to remember them saying that it did. This is our 2nd summer with her. I’m wondering if it’s not an allergy. I let them(4 dogs in total) out daily to run and get our energy about 30 mins in a one acre high fence pen. She’s the only one with the spot. We just did a medicated bath and she’s hanging out in the mud room for some AC and rest.
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u/ClipIn Orange Belton 9d ago
I don’t have any experience with this to share. Ours sleep/hang indoors with a ton of outside time (as much as they want) + run a few miles daily in forrest + often at beach and salt water.
Have never had to deal with hot spots. At worst, some light paw chewing in the fall the vet thinks is allergies and goes away with some allergy meds.
We tend to keep the feathers long and their hair a typical setter length, unless summer then shaved closer. But have had no hot spots despite hair length, dirt, grass, forrest, or beach environments.
I’d ask the vet what’s causing the irritation and start addressing from there. It might be a local weed, grass, plant or just need a bacterial treatment.