Does Your Pet Have a Hot Spot?

What is a hot spot? A hot spot is a painful circle of inflammation that occurs when pets rub, scratch, lick, or bite their way into baldness. It usually occurs when something has irritated their skin, like fleas. The more it itches, the more they scratch, and the bigger the hot spot gets. You watch it and it doesn’t seem to turn into any serious skin condition, like mange, but it is causing a loss of hair and it is ugly. What can you do to help soothe your pet’s hot spot? There are a number of things you can do. First, trim of the hair around the hot spot so you can clean it, and then clean the area by washing it with a solution such as an antibacterial soap. You can also dab the area with a cotton ball soaked in an antiseptic solution. Do this at least two or three days.

To help soothe the itch and to clean the area, you can apply a soothing compression to the hot spot several times a day. Wet a soft, clean cloth in cool water, wring it out, and apply it to the hot spot for 10 to 15 minutes. You can do this as often as needed. Another helpful tip is to wash the hot spot with black or green tea or diluted Burow’s solution to heal the spot quickly. Tea or Burow’s solution helps dry the area and heal the hot spot. Of course, never apply hot tea make sure it is warm. Pour the Burow’s solution in a bottle and spray it on the hot spot. To ease the inflammation, you can apply a small amount of hydrocortisone cream twice a day. To prevent your pet from licking the cream do something to distract them. However, the small amount of cream will not do harm to your pet if they do end up licking it.

Another helpful tip is to apply some vitamin E or aloe vera gel to the hot spot a few times a day. You can also spray your pet with flea spray or douse some powder on your pet to keep fleas off since fleas originally caused the hot spots. Once the hot spot clears up, make sure you continue applying this treatment to your pet to prevent hot spots from developing. You can also check to see if your dog has allergies, which can also cause hot spots. My dog had a hot spot . Everyday I cleaned the area first and then applied some hydrocortisone cream a couple of times a day for several days and the hot spot cleared up in about a week. So you may not need to take your pet to the vet, you can purchase some over the counter treatments that will do the job. However if the hot spots become larger causing lots of hair loss or pus is oozing out and giving out a foul smell, take your pet to the vet they may have a bacterial infection.