Itchy Hot Spots

Anyone, My pit bull/mutt developed a hot spot maybe 6+ months ago. It got bigger and worse and also started to spread. We did a round of oral steroids and antibiotics with a Betagen Spray and a Douxos3 antiseptic/antifungal foam all directed by her vet. The hot spots got better after that, although not completely healed, and then came back with a vengeance. They also spread to multiple areas around her head/neck. When we brought her back to the vet with nearly bleeding hot spots, they told us to just continue using the foam, but it’s not working. So I’m coming here for more advice. THEN… We went on vacation and she stayed with a friend who has 2 other dogs for a week. When we came home, all of her spots were almost completely healed. He said he didn’t do anything to help. We thought it was that she was eating his dogs’ food while there, but within 2 hours of being back in our house (without eating any of our food), her spots had flared up red again and she was itching again. We have a cat, but she has lived with the cat for 3 years. Does anyone know what could be causing these hot spots? Nothing has changed in our household. We don’t use any chemical cleaners and she doesn’t have a yard. She only poops in our courtyard.  Could it be that she developed an allergy to our cat 3 years into living with him?

Hello!   I hear your frustration.  Skin diseases are very common but can make some of the most frustrating cases.  It helps if you think of skin disease as a long-term illness, rather like asthma or diabetes or arthritis.  For the most part it sneaks back and often gets infected, so it has to be kept under control.

'Hot spot' has no scientific definition; it is just a word for a focus of an itchy skin disease - the place where the dog tends to chew and make sore.  They are caused by the skin condition which makes the dog want to chew.  Sometimes dogs simply choose a place they can reach to chew (e.g. the closest place they can reach on their back); sometimes a place where a prominent bone sticks up underneath; sometimes a warm place e.g. under a leg, where it's sweaty and any discomfort is more annoying.  Essentially, hot-spots are caused by licking and biting, often because of an underlying allergy.  Licking at biting makes it sore or infected, and this perpetuates a cycle.

Dogs can be allergic to long lists of things;  possibilities can range from dust mites, to the particular type of carpet you have in your hall, to a weed on your driveway, to dust mites, to other animals, to fleas.  Fleas, actually, are a common one- and while everyone squirms and then says 'but no.  No, ours isn't the sort of house to have fleas in it' (I certainly did), or 'But my other pet doesn't had fleas,' it's worth remembering that it only takes one flea to start off a flea allergy, and in most cases, where there are just one or two fleas, owners wouldn't see them.  We only really become aware of fleas in the house in the event of an infestation, so it's worth regularly fleaing against the odd single invader with a product that your vet says works, to be absolutely sure.

My understanding is that allergies do develop over time, so they do not have to be a response to something new.  A dog can become allergic to something that they weren't allergic to a few months ago;  indeed, this can be quite common.  Because they are lifelong conditions, it can be useful - but also difficult - to find out as much about your particular dogs' allergy as possible.  Keeping notes in a diary can sometimes help to pinpoint the triggers, but triggers can increase over time.  I also think that in a lot of cases, it may be worth consulting a skin specialist, or asking if there is a vet who particularly 'likes skin cases' in your practice.  Skin cases are extremely common, so many vets do develop and interest in the area.  This can be extremely useful.  Often management of skin allergies, can boil down to drugs that keep the skin as calm as possible, and appropriate bacteria / yeast control at crucial times.  I do hope that something here is useful.

This link to archives from the Vet Help Direct blog may prove useful: https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/tags/allergic-skin/