Quote: anna hull

Thing is, I haven't found one flea on him though. I even front line him. I did it again, just today. When I bathed him before that, I found nothing on him. or in the water. Guess I could rebathe him with a actual flea shampoo so see if they are just hiding?

They don't have to still be there to have triggered a bad cycle. And it can be moist exzema (esp on a long-coated dog), moist spots compounded by bad food, or other allergies, or mites..... the hot spot is just the manifestation of something else.

But you will want to attend to those sores. The poor guy is in misery. The term "hot spot" is too light-sounding. The reason they are so hard to heal is that the dog is so itchy and miserable that he can't leave it alone.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1592&articleid=447

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html

You don't want a lick granuloma; you want to treat this right away.

Anna,
Just guessing here, so get the dog checked by a vet. I'm guessing the dog spends maybe a good deal of time in the water. Maybe once a day? My vet explained it like this to me; because of the heavy under coat of the dog, it never really gets dried completely, so consequently bacteria start growing (warm and damp, nice if your a bacteria), eventually it becomes irritating to the skin, the dog starts licking and/or scratching, but by licking ingests the organism that now infect the blood and cause the cropping up almost anywhere on the body. The cure was simple enough, a short dose of antibiotic, some antihistamine (for relief of itching) and an occassional shampoon in the summer months (when swimming often) with a shampoon containing 4%clorhexidine gluconiate (kills the bad guys). Never had a problem after that.
But see the vet. Sounds like he needs a doctor. Hope this helps.

Randy

 Quote: randy allen

Anna,
Just guessing here, so get the dog checked by a vet. I'm guessing the dog spends maybe a good deal of time in the water. Maybe once a day? My vet explained it like this to me; because of the heavy under coat of the dog, it never really gets dried completely, so consequently bacteria start growing (warm and damp, nice if your a bacteria), eventually it becomes irritating to the skin, the dog starts licking and/or scratching, but by licking ingests the organism that now infect the blood and cause the cropping up almost anywhere on the body. The cure was simple enough, a short dose of antibiotic, some antihistamine (for relief of itching) and an occassional shampoon in the summer months (when swimming often) with a shampoon containing 4%clorhexidine gluconiate (kills the bad guys). Never had a problem after that.
But see the vet. Sounds like he needs a doctor. Hope this helps.

Randy

Yes, that is one of the possibilities for moist exzema. Unfortunately, the result can be way worse than you'd expect, with something like this:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html

There are photos halfway down.


You are so right about getting it tended to, Randy.

Don't think that that is it either. Chaos has went in the water one time this summer and that was a couple of months ago. I can't remember if that was before or after his first hot spot though. He went in a lake after a frisbee a couple of times, but never went in over his belly. He really doesn't like to swim so I don't force the issue with him. But I do notice that when I have the central air on, he lays over the ducts allot to get the cool air.

Whatever the trigger, right now the symptom (the skin pruritis) is your top concern. You described infection.

When you are at the vet, you can get the Panalog to keep in the house.

Did you mention his weight? We can give you the fish oil and vitamin E dosage if we have the weight. The anti-inflammation properties of fish oil are extremely beneficial.

And again, regardless of the actual pinpointed trigger here, junky food (and again, cost doesn't determine quality) is a profound detriment to the immune system.
Good food, Omega 3s from fish oil -- these will help a lot to give his system the wherewithal to deal with this stuff.

But right now he needs to get those sores healed. You don't want the kind of mess in those pictures I linked above.

Keep us posted, OK?

Thanks for all of the info all. Chaos weighs 73.5 lbs. I will get some of the fish oil and vitamin E after work and call the vet too to get some of the other. They do know about the hot spots and I told them I was trying to treat them my self before bringing him in. I do have him on Clavamox from work right now. Just started it Friday. I will get some more if you think it's going to help him at all. Our vet techs thought it might.

 Quote: anna hull

Chaos weighs 73.5 lbs. I will get some of the fish oil and vitamin E after work

I would use 7 grams a day of the fish oil (7000 mg a day) and 200-400 IU of Vitamin E (preferably in the form of mixed tocopherols).

You don't want cod LIVER oil...... just fish body oil. It may not say "body," but what you care about is that it does not say "liver" oil.

Both of these items will be in the health food store, if you can't get them at a good dog supply store. The fish oil is much cheaper in the long run if you do not get capsules (just liquid).

The people fish oil might seem very costly, but you could get a small one until you can get something like this:
http://www.leerburg.com/47.htm

You don't want something that says "Balanced Omega 3, 6, and 9." You want marine sources of Omega 3 -- just 3 (not from flax or canola......). This is totally worth the investment in the dog's long-term health, IMO, even if you have to buy a pharmaceutical brand for people that might cost $22 for a pint.

Especially for a dog who has been on such bad food, you are going to see very fast improvements in the dog's skin, coat, etc., when he gets Omega 3s and E. (All dogs need these, though; modern diets are very deficient in long-chain Omega 3s.)

 Quote: Anna Hull

I do have him on Clavamox from work right now. Just started it Friday. I will get some more if you think it's going to help him at all. Our vet techs thought it might.

Once you start it, please do not stop it partway through the regimen. You want to do the whole protocol.

You can pick up some top-quality no-sugar plain live-culture yogurt to help replenish the good intestinal flora and fauna that the antibiotic will kill off as it kills off the bad ones.

Ah yes,
Diet.......That was going to be my next post Connie. I've long advocated meat in a dogs daily rations. I just kind of got going on trying to get the dog seen to now and how a small problem can grow quickily out of proportion.
Anna, a good diet isn't that hard or needn't be that expensive. At the risk of being a shill, I read about a company on this site that was coming out with a line of food called ' taste of the wild', The Chicken Soup people I think, I went down to the local feed/farm store, they talked to the rep, the food came in, and as advertised; no grain, good protein, omgega 3s, fish stuff, in short good high quality food--- $1.33 a pound. If I remember the bad old days thats a fair price(I haven't checked the cost of 'The popular' brands in a long time). The local supermarket has sale on meats that have spent to long on the shelf at least once a week. So I usually spent less than a dollar on a pound on meat. If things get tight there is always canned sardines or thawed frozen liver to mix in with the kibble. But always some meat, some how, some way, no matter what kind of dry food. Check it out you might even find yourself saving money. The better diet will help your dogs immune system, and I promise you'll see a difference in his outward appearence and attitude.

Beautiful dog Anna.