What You Should Know About Your Pet’s Hot Spots
When itching causes your pet’s skin to burn, they may scratch, lick, and chew so much that they produce a hot spot. Learn more about these highly uncomfortable sores to help your animal buddy conquer the itch.
What exactly are hot spots in pets?
Hot spots, also known as acute moist dermatitis or pyotraumatic dermatitis, are inflamed lesions that appear on the skin of a pet. These patches frequently appear overnight and can soon turn into an oozing, stinging mess that is very distressing for your pet.
What causes hot spots in pets?
Skin inflammation due by environmental, flea, or food allergies is the most common cause of hot spots. Anything that causes your pet to lick, chew, or scratch a region to the extent of raw skin, on the other hand, could be the culprit.
Hot spots can be triggered by:
- Ear infections
- Skin infections
- Matted fur
- Urinary tract infections
- Anal gland issues
How are hot spots treated in pets?
To avoid a deep skin infection, treat your pet’s hot spots as soon as possible. As soon as you discover a small patch of inflammation, you must put an Elizabethan collar (also known as an e-collar) on your pet to keep them from aggravating the skin further.
As hot spots can be extremely unpleasant to the touch, we may offer anesthesia along with a strong analgesic drug when your pet arrives at our hospital for hot spot therapy. We will trim away matted fur to let air to reach the region after your pet is comfortable. Wet, matted fur is an infection breeding ground and must be removed to let the hot region to recover.
We will carefully wipe the area with an antiseptic rinse to remove fur and debris before applying topical treatments to clean and dry skin to relieve the itch and treat the infection. We may offer allergy treatment, anal gland expression, ear medicine, frequent grooming, or other therapies depending on the underlying cause of the hot area.
Don’t put off treating an itchy or inflamed region on your pet’s skin. Call us to make an appointment before a slight discomfort develops into a huge, uncomfortable hot spot.