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Cause Of Wound? Should I Be Worried?


luffy4688
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I just discovered a wound on Bailey's hind leg an hour ago. I intend to bring him to the vet the first thing in the morning, but being the worried wart I am, hopefully someone's up at this time of the night and could help ease my worries. I'm just worried it might be an insect bite or something.

1. He doesn't seem to be in much pain, if any. Doesn't flinch or fidget much when I touch the spot. He walks around fine, and doesn't seem lethargic.

2. He licks the spot occasionally, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much.

3. He's only had an on-leash walk today, so no off-leash runs, so don't really see how he could hurt himself?

Here is at picture:

2014-08-22003224_zps13618060.jpg

Edited by luffy4688
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It looks like a hot spot which is a staph infection of the skin caused by the dog chewing that spot or bacterial growth from leaving a dense coat wet at skin level. They are usually fairly easily treated topically and with antibiotics if needed and the dog should be fine to see the vet tomorrow. Keep an eye on him overnight though and at the first sign the dog is unwell, get him to an emergency vet as very rarely, they can be deadly if the bacteria spreads. If you have any apple cider vinegar or original brown listerine, use that to clean the wound tonight, then dry gently with a hair dryer and make sure no hair is sticking to the wound. If you have any Curash powder or EDP antiseptic powder, dust that on the spot after it is dry. Otherwise use Betadine on it. The best cure I have found for hot spots is the Doggy Eczema Cream from Nanna's Farm in Tas. It stings but works so get some to have on hand in case it happens again. Nanna's Farm

Edited by dancinbcs
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Thanks guys! Knowing what it is does put my mind at ease a little.

It looks like a hot spot which is a staph infection of the skin caused by the dog chewing that spot or bacterial growth from leaving a dense coat wet at skin level. They are usually fairly easily treated topically and with antibiotics if needed and the dog should be fine to see the vet tomorrow. Keep an eye on him overnight though and at the first sign the dog is unwell, get him to an emergency vet as very rarely, they can be deadly if the bacteria spreads. If you have any apple cider vinegar or original brown listerine, use that to clean the wound tonight, then dry gently with a hair dryer and make sure no hair is sticking to the wound. If you have any Curash powder or EDP antiseptic powder, dust that on the spot after it is dry. Otherwise use Betadine on it. The best cure I have found for hot spots is the Doggy Eczema Cream from Nanna's Farm in Tas. It stings but works so get some to have on hand in case it happens again. Nanna's Farm

Appreciate the detailed response! I don't have any of the listed above, so I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on him tonight and hopefully everything will be fine till I can get him to the vet in the morning.

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Yep looks like a hot spot to me.

When mine have had them, I clip the hair short around the area, wash it in Malaseb, dry throughly, put neocort on them and stop them licking. They usually heal up pretty quickly.

Very occasionally they can come up really fast and mucky literally overnight and these need vet treatment, ie quite often sedation as they can be really painful, clipping, oral AB's and pain killers and quite often Neocort or something similar.

Edited by OSoSwift
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Ouch!

As someone who has put apple cider vinegar on my own minor wound/rash I can tell you it stings like buggery. I would imagine the listerine would as well?? I would be more inclined to do a swab with some calendula tea followed by the drying and keeping the hair out as excellently advised above. Keeping it dry is the main challenge. I wish Bailey a speedy recovery.

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Hot spot for sure!

I have become very experienced in treating them over the years of corgi ownership and the method I use, which is very effective, is to clean with peroxide (dab away any gunk) and then apply betadine. Put a cone on the dog to restrict their access to the area. They dry up super fast and begin the healing process. No need to cut the fur.

Found this method a few years ago after a great vet told me about it. She disagrees with vets prescribing creams like neocort because the wound needs to dry out and a cream is just going to keep it moist. It heals eventually with creams but keeping it dry makes the whole process faster.

Obviously, choose the method of treatment you would prefer and if you do choose one and it isn't working, see a vet. I don't think hot spots need to see a vet unless they are a really nasty one. Bailey's looks pretty mild.

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Hot spot for sure!

I have become very experienced in treating them over the years of corgi ownership and the method I use, which is very effective, is to clean with peroxide (dab away any gunk) and then apply betadine. Put a cone on the dog to restrict their access to the area. They dry up super fast and begin the healing process. No need to cut the fur.

Found this method a few years ago after a great vet told me about it. She disagrees with vets prescribing creams like neocort because the wound needs to dry out and a cream is just going to keep it moist. It heals eventually with creams but keeping it dry makes the whole process faster.

Obviously, choose the method of treatment you would prefer and if you do choose one and it isn't working, see a vet. I don't think hot spots need to see a vet unless they are a really nasty one. Bailey's looks pretty mild.

I will keep this method in the memory bank, as huskies are prone to hot spots, thankfully Ronin hasn't had one yet - thanks for posting :)

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Hot spot for sure!

I have become very experienced in treating them over the years of corgi ownership and the method I use, which is very effective, is to clean with peroxide (dab away any gunk) and then apply betadine. Put a cone on the dog to restrict their access to the area. They dry up super fast and begin the healing process. No need to cut the fur.

Found this method a few years ago after a great vet told me about it. She disagrees with vets prescribing creams like neocort because the wound needs to dry out and a cream is just going to keep it moist. It heals eventually with creams but keeping it dry makes the whole process faster.

Obviously, choose the method of treatment you would prefer and if you do choose one and it isn't working, see a vet. I don't think hot spots need to see a vet unless they are a really nasty one. Bailey's looks pretty mild.

I will keep this method in the memory bank, as huskies are prone to hot spots, thankfully Ronin hasn't had one yet - thanks for posting :)

Added to my memory bank too.

:thumbsup:

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Maybe I didn't read carefully, but I didn't notice anyone suggesting that you shave or clip the hair short around the hot spot.

My experience with hot spots is that almost everything works . . . vinegar, peroxide, betadine, rubbing alcohol, Camamile tea, antibiotic goo or powder . . . so long as you work to keep the spot dried out and unfriendly to the infection. If you leave the hair long around the hot spot, the infection spreads to the surrounding coat.

The damn things can grow very fast. If you don't clip, your thumbprint sized spot can triple or quadruple in size overnight. Some of them are less aggressive. I think there are multiple microorganisms that can cause the problem . . . both bacteria and fungi . . . so different things work differently in different cases. But moisture is necessary for the infections to get going, and trimming hair gets rid of trapped moisture.

Edited by sandgrubber
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Yep looks like a hot spot to me.

When mine have had them, I clip the hair short around the area, wash it in Malaseb, dry throughly, put neocort on them and stop them licking. They usually heal up pretty quickly.

Maybe I didn't read carefully, but I didn't notice anyone suggesting that you shave or clip the hair short around the hot spot.

OSO did smile.gif

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Maybe I didn't read carefully, but I didn't notice anyone suggesting that you shave or clip the hair short around the hot spot.

My experience with hot spots is that almost everything works . . . vinegar, peroxide, betadine, rubbing alcohol, Camamile tea, antibiotic goo or powder . . . so long as you work to keep the spot dried out and unfriendly to the infection. If you leave the hair long around the hot spot, the infection spreads to the surrounding coat.

I do not shave or trim the coat at all and have not had the infection spread :) The peroxide and betadine combo dries it so fast that there's no chance for it to get worse.

In fact the only time I had to deal with hot spots spreading/becoming worse was years ago when I was following another vet's advice and using neocort. In my opinion, it wasn't drying out the wound so it wasn't healing fast enough and I guess the infection just took over the surrounding area.

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Peroxide sounds like it would sting like hell. How do the dogs cope with the application of this?

I've been lucky so far. Jenna has such a thick coat I am always paranoid about her skin staying damp after a bath so will get some peroxide to keep in my first aid kit.

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