How to Prevent Hot Spots in Pets
When their skin feels on fire from itching, your pet may scratch, lick, and chew so much that they create a hot spot. Help your furry pal beat the itch by learning more about these incredibly uncomfortable sores.
What are hot spots in pets?
Hot spots, which are also known as acute moist dermatitis or pyotraumatic dermatitis, are inflamed sores that develop on a pet’s skin. These spots often seem to pop up overnight, and can quickly become an oozing, painful mess that is extremely painful for your pet.
What causes hot spots in pets?
Hot spots are generally caused by skin inflammation from environmental, flea, or food allergies. However, anything that causes your pet to lick, chew, or scratch an area to the point of raw skin can be a culprit.
Hot spots can be triggered by:
- Ear infections
- Skin infections
- Matted fur
- Urinary tract infections
- Anal gland issues
How are animal hot spots treated?
To avoid a severe skin infection, you must act quickly to treat your pet’s hot areas. Your pet has to wear an Elizabethan collar (also known as an e-collar) as soon as you see a little area of inflammation in order to prevent future skin irritation.
As hot spots can be excruciatingly painful to the touch, when your pet comes to our hospital for hot spot treatment, we may sedate them and give them a potent painkiller. We will trim away matted fur to make the area more airy once your pet is at ease. To help the hot spot heal, the wet, matted fur that acts as a breeding ground for infection must be cut off.
To remove fur and other debris, we will carefully clean the area with an antiseptic rinse. Next, we will administer topical treatments to the clean, dry skin to relieve the itch and treat the infection. Depending on what caused the hot area in the first place, we may advise allergy medicine, anal gland expression, ear medication, routine grooming, or other therapies.
Do not delay to treat your pet’s skin if you discover an inflamed or irritated region. Before a little irritant develops into a significant, painful hot spot, give our staff a call to make an appointment.
