Sores on dog

[Deb]

Our 6 year old GWP has developed a number of sores on her body, they're mainly watery and develop large crusted scabs. She had many by her feet and around her pads, the inside of her ears, around her nose, and some on her body but none on her belly. They don't seem to itch but she did have a slight fever when I had her into the vet on Saturday. The vet gave us some anitbiotics and sent a sample into the lab but they didn't find anything. I thought they were clearing up but this morning it looked as though some new ones were developing inside her ears again.

Has anyone else had something like this with their dogs?

Thanks,
Deb

[Topher]

Hot spots are also known as acute moist pyoderma and are usually the result of some form of skin irritation (scrape, cut, flea bite, etc.) I just had to give my bullmastiff a flat top because he developed a patch on his head. Typically the vet will shave the area and use a combination of oral and topical antibiotics. They can spread quite fast, but in my experience, they heal after a couple of weeks. Do a search on google for canine hot spots and you should get quite a bit of information.

[MikeB]

DEB, What brand of food are you feeding? I believe this is food related like an allergy. Something causes an irritation to the skin and the dog chews and licks the skin and makes the problem worse. Shaving the areas and treating daily with Hydrogen Pryoxide with help to dry up the sores.

Some ingredients in dog food can add to the Hot Spot problem like Wheat, Corn, by-products, artificial anything, colors, preservitives, glutens etc. I haven't had any hot spots in my dogs for years since I stopped feeding foods with these ingredients. My food of choice for the last 5 years or so is CANIDAE. When you look at Canidae's ingredients you can see the difference. http://www.canidae.com

I have also found several food supplements that add healthy ingredients to the diet that can not be added to dry food due to the cooking process.

Here a some products to check out. There here are many more than these, you only need to use one, not all of them. I am sure any of these would help prevent hot spots from occuring again.

Norwegian Kelp Vegetarian Blend at http://www.kelpproductsofflorida.com

NUPRO Dog Supplement at http://www.nuprosupplements.com

"IN" Diet Supplement at http://www.alc-Inovators.com

Hope that helps

[Deb]

Thanks for the replys.

Topher - do you know if hotspots spread randomly? She seems to have them everywhere right now, the old ones heal but a few new ones are popping up. The sores do not seem at all itchy or painful, she'll just stand there and let me clean them. Her energy levels and attitude have returned to normal now which I'll take as a good sign.

MikeB - We feed her Nutro Lamb & Rice.

Right before this happened she had her yearly shots and an application of Frontline to go to northern MN. She may have reacted to one of these also.

Thanks again,
Deb

[MikeB]

I would make sure this is not any type of MANGE... Hot spots are one thing but mange is quite another. You vet will have to help you out there.

If it is for sure HOT SPOTS.... and you can get CANIDAE in your area, I would try that food for a while. Nutro doesn't use much of anything to help skin and coat. I know to many unsatisified dog owners that used to feed Nutro L/R. I would also look into a food supplement like NUPRO or The Missing Link and that may help to dry up these spots and keep them under control.

[Deb]

Just a follow-up to what we've found out. I took her into a dermatologist last Saturday and they think she may have an autoimmune skin disease called Pemphigus. She's pretty much recovered right now so they couldn't get a good sample to verify their diagnosis, we'll need to take her in again if she has another flare-up. I have put her back on Missing Link again and that may be one reason for her improvement, her energy levels certainly have returned in the few days she been on it.

When I took our other GWP in for his yearly check-up I happened to mention to our vet that I had given our female Frontline a couple of days before the flare-up. She has one other client who's dog had a similar reaction to Frontline. So basically we'll just wait and see what happens next. I don't think I'll give her anymore Frontline just in case she is that 1 in a million dog that has a reaction to it - and it is just about that rare for a dog to have a reaction to Frontline so no one else should stop due to this case.