Best At-Home Remedies for Dog Hot Spots

Does your dog have an itchy, irritated hot spot? Veterinarian Dr. Yvette Huizar shares simple home remedies to help soothe your dog’s skin and promote healing. Disclaimer alert: This information is just for educational purposes! Every pet is different, so always talk with your vet or trainer for specific advice on your pet's situation. We don’t accept any liability for any loss or injury that occurs as a result of watching videos on Kinship's channel. (Fyi: We also don’t accept any liability for extra treats given…but we doubt your pet will mind.) (C) Kinship Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.

TRANSCRIPT

think your dog may have a hot spot? let's talk about how to treat it. I'm Dr. Yvette Huizar and this is Brody and he's unfortunately prone to hot spots a hot spot is an area of inflamed and moist skin it's usually red very itchy and can also have discharge puss and be smelly too sometimes there may be matted hair covering the skin dogs typically get hot spots from increased moisture such as when it's hot out out side after swimming baths if their hair hasn't dried fully and also secondary to things like allergies if dogs are licking their skin or chewing excessively the goal of treatment is to clean the skin make sure it's nice and dry and also address any itching or pain that comes secondary to the Hotpot if there's an underlying infection antibiotics may also be needed hotpots are harmful to dogs because they can lead to infection and can be very uncomfortable for your pet which we really don't want right Brody good boy if you catch a hot spot early these are some things that you can do at home to help your pet the first step is to remove hair from the skin you can use grooming clippers for this if your pet tolerates it but if they show any signs of pain then don't proceed next you're going to clean the skin with cool water if you use chlorexidine products just be aware that some animal skin is sensitive to it one thing you can do to sooth the skin is to apply a cool compress I use a towel with some cool water lastly it's so so important that you use a cone or an elizabethian collar to prevent your pet from licking their skin I know how irritating it can be for your dog to have to wear a cone but this is actually a really important part of treatment because if they continue to lick and chew their skin it's not going to heal some questions to ask yourself are is your pet on monthly fanti prenative after baths and swimming are they drying off completely do they have an underlying ear infection is this happening seasonally for them and do they potentially have underlying skin allergies it's really important that we avoid using petroleum based ointments and creams to treat the hot spots because again we want to reduce moisture in that area also keep in mind that some topical therapies can be toxic to dogs if they eat it The Hot Spot over a few days should start to look more dry less red and your pet should be a little bit more comfortable each day if the hot spot is not improving within 2 days or if it's worsening then please see a veterinarian thanks for watching and see you next time