Like humans, dogs are prone to all sorts of infections and ailments. Chronic dog hot spots are one of those infections that can be a menace to your pet. A dog hot spot or moist eczema is that skin irritation that begins when your dog gets an itch, scratches and licks it a lot resulting in the formation of a wet scab.
If the dog keeps chewing, scratching or licking that very spot, it becomes inflamed and get infected. It becomes chronic when you get the irritation contained, but a short while later, the dog gets back to scratching, licking or chewing the same spot, reviving the hot spots on dogs.
Prevention of these hot spots has much to do with understanding why they occur and then addressing the underlying causes. This is not very difficult as we shall see.
Many times, your dog may be having an allergic reaction to something in its food or in the environment. Common ingredients that could cause allergies in dogs include wheat, pork, beef, soy or corn. In case your dog is regularly fed on these, find alternatives that do not contain them and observe what happens. In case the hot spot heals and no recurrence occurs,then bingo, that would have settled it.
Control fleas. A significant proportion of chronic dog hot spots are caused by fleas afflicting the dog, so, regularly spraying to eliminate these parasites will do away with the problem. Talk to your vet about various sprays that can sort this out. This also applies to ants and flies, particularly if your dog has sensitive skin.
If your dog has a thick coat of fur, you could consider trimming it regularly. This is because the fur reduces the rate of heat loss from the dog’s body so it is easy for the skin to get irritated, triggering the scratching. It is also important to properly dry the dog after grooming it so that hot spots can be forestalled from occurring.
Watch your dog’s weight. Overweight dogs find it particularly hard to dispel body heat, and as seen above, that can be the cause of recurrent dog hot spots. If this is the case, get that weight under control and you will see dramatic changes in the occurrence of hot spots.
Chronic dog hot spots are usually a result of the causative agent not being addressed, so looking into issues like those explored above, and others your vet will point out, will get your dog on the way to complete recovery. You will regain your peace of mind once the pet is fine.
