These Painful, Oozing Sores Appear Suddenly and Are Hard to Get Rid Of
By Dr. Becker
A hot spot on your dog (or less likely, your cat) is a raw, painful area of skin that is usually an angry red color and the hair has often been licked, rubbed or bitten off. The area over and around the hot spot is typically crusty and stinky. The medical term for hot spots is pyotraumatic dermatitis or superficial pyoderma. But hot spot is a much better descriptive term for your pet's inflamed, infected skin.
What Triggers Hot Spots?
Just about anything (think flea bites or seasonal allergies) that causes your dog to scratch, lick or bite at an area of skin until it is irritated and inflamed sets the stage for a hot spot.
Hot spots are also created when your dog's natural bacteria overpopulates areas of his skin. When an infection arises from a dog's own bacteria, there is almost always a root cause. Hot spots often occur in dogs with underperforming immune systems. Once the skin is red and raw, it is primed for infection, which creates a vicious cycle of itching, scratching and further injury to the skin.
It's important to realize that hot spots can come on very quickly. For example, you might leave your perfectly comfortable dog one morning to go to work, and by the time you get home, she's obsessing over an area of skin that is irritated, inflamed and oozing. Hot spots tend to be very painful and sensitive to the touch. Any dog can develop the condition, but it's most commonly seen in dogs with thick coats, dirty and/or moist skin and dogs with allergies, including flea allergies.
Treating the Wound......
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