hot spots - won't clear up

  Welcome to the forum; [sm=welcome2.gif]  Poor baby; The steroid is probably what caused the personality change; did you mention this to the vet?  She should behave normally when it wears off. It may also be that she's nervous because of the itching and wants to hide. Gold Bond Powder is very good for hot spots. What type of antibiotic did your vet prescribe; topical or oral? Animax is a topical antibiotic that is excellent for skin infections, and it also relieves the pain and itching. Do you give your dog antihistamines; they can help with the itching. My vet likes Benedryl.  The dose is 1mg for pound of body weight given 2 to 3 times a day. I hope this helps; good luck.

this is something i have been battling for years. my poor baby is allergic to dust mites of all things. he gets terrible hot spots that end up a skin infection. this is what works for me. i shave the area, peel off the scab(gross i know)this is what the vet does also. vet says that it needs air to heal. wash with nusal-t shampoo from vet. then i use tea tree oil. sometimes if it is real bad he will need the steroid and antibiotic but to many meds scare me. we were just doing some remodeling in the house and we had a lot of dust so he had a terrible break out. he has cancer so no meds. we shaved him good and i check him everyday. vet gave me mupirocin ointment. it cleared up the ones he already had. now checking him everyday and he is completely shaved i catch them early enough to use the ointment and the hot spots are finally under control. i use the flea comb to scrape off all the dry skin.kind of like a scalp treatment. i have read on this forum about the gold bond powder, i will try that myself next.. this is what works for us. hope it helps your baby some.

First off, I'm so sorry for what your poor baby is going through[&o]

My next concern would be what exactly is causing the hot spots?  did your vet tell you it may be allergies?  If so then try your best to remove the allergens from your dogs environment or food.  Does your dog have fleas? 

What I had great success with on my Rottie when  she developed a hot spot due to seasonal allergies this year.  

I cleaned the hot spot with hibatine, then applied Calendula + to the hotspot in the morning.  In the evening I cleaned the hot spot once again with hibatine then put cooled organic green tea on it over night.

Next put your dog on either a home prepared elimination diet or I found Natura's California Natural to be a nice bland food for allergy prone dogs. I personally put my Rottie on NRG dehydrated Salmon mixed with sardines, Zinpro salmon canned or California Natural Salmon canned...or canned sockeye salmon.  Feed this new food for at least 8 weeks.  If your doing an elimination which may not be meeting the entire nutritional requirements then only do for a few weeks.  If it turns out to food related then look at the ingredients in your current food and go with something completely different.  

Next thing I found that helped was to give astragalus which is an immune moderator...not a booster.  Do not use Echinacea as this is an immune boost which may not be good if your dog has allergies.

I also made sure she got fish body oil and vitamin E daily.

If you have a holistic/homeopathic vet locally try to get in to them and have them treat your dog holistically from the inside out. 
 
As far as Gold bond goes, for a quick fix it's fine.  But, it's not something I would use to treat long term it's most important to find out what's causing the problem.  Groomers, breeders etc have been using Gold Bond for decades as a quick fix...but, it's not something I would recommend. 

Here are some articles for you to review
[linkhttp://www.onlynaturalpet.com:80/KnowledgeBase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=54&Keywords=&click=73150]http://www.onlynaturalpet.com:80/KnowledgeBase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=54&Keywords=&click=73150[/link]

The first topical ointment was Panalog, then he changed it to Mupirocin.  She also is on an antibiotic pill Simplicef.  The problem is she won't stop scratching the hot spot and just keeps ripping it open.  We put a plastic collar on her today to stop her from scratching herself. 

Your poor baby. We're going through the same thing right now! Murphy went to the vet for it a week and a half ago and the vet shaved that area on the neck and sent us home with Animax. We apply it to the area twice a day and it worked like a charm for him- he pretty much stopped scratching that area and it was healing. THEN- we had a lot of rain and it's in the high 80's here [:@] very humid and miserable and the hot spot is coming back. [sm=banghead002.gif] So we're still treating it and if it won't clear up we'll make another trip to the vet. Also, when he's in the house we've been taking his collar off- that seems to be helping a lot!!! If you aren't taking off the collar I would highly recommend it- in fact, buy a new collar. The collar Murphy was wearing when we first discovered the hot spot was stinky and funky. Probably loaded with bacteria. You might want to invest in a new collar also.Good luck!!

Golden retrievers are very rpone to hot spots.  One of mine use to get hot spots very oten and i woudl always take them to the vet.  He told me to stop wasting my money.  clip the fur myself and scrub with peroxide and I did have a spray to use on the spots.
 
However, after joining several Golden retriever forums i learned about the gold bond powder.  That is as much a part of a dog first aid kit for golden owners as surgar and flour are to cook's pantries.    I clip the fur so it won't stick to the spot, clean with peroxide and when dry apply the gold bond.  KayCee gets them spring and fall, and if we get a lot of rain.  However she has not had had to go to the vet in a couple of years because of hot spots.  I also give her benadryl to help with itching.  All golden owners swear by Gold Bond.

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