Hot Spot Home Treatment

Treatment for Dino's Ailments Part 1 - Hot Spot Home Treatment

I hope this information is of help to anyone who is worried about their pet's hot spot and is looking for workable home treatment to remedy it!

(1) Hot Spot 1

I found a hot spot when I noticed that Dino kept licking at his outer elbow. It looked like a sore with raised edges; it was less than half cm in diameter. 

Following sensible sounding advice found on the internet for home treatment for hot spots plus some commonsense , I did the following:

- wash the hot spot by dabbing and softly wipeing with cotton wool soaked with non-stinging antiseptic solution; this was to avoid soaking the whole area so that it would be easier to dry;

- dry the area by lightly pressing with tissues, making sure that tissue does not stick to the wound; did not use cotton wool as fibres tend to stick too easily; blow-dry fur in the area with hair-dryer held at least a foot (30cm) away AND oscillating the hair-dryer, moving it around, on medium setting and using fingers to ruffle fur so that heat is distributed and would not harm the hot spot (very important);

- apply Betadine (a Povidone Iodine Water Soluble Ointment) liberally on the hot spot; gave up on putting a plaster over it as it kept falling off.

- put e-collar on Dino - very important so that he would not be able to lick off the ointment as well as aggravate the hot spot further; I did take off the collar during feeding time so that he could eat comfortably but replace it once he finished eating;

- repeat the procedure twice daily; worked like a charm;

- the hot spot got progressively smaller in diameter and healed over in about 3 days but I had to keep the e-collar on for one or two days longer as Dino seemed to lick at the spot again. After about the 5th day, he did not fuss over the spot, I left the e-collar off.

Saved a bunch in vet fees.

(2) Hot Spot 2

Two years after the first hot spot, I found another one when I noticed Dino licking his outer thigh often. It looked similar to the first hot spot. I followed the same method used for hot spot 1 but on the 3rd day, had to concede that it was not working this time around. 

I trawled the internet for other sensible solutions and settled for powder that contained zinc oxide. There was much mention of Gold Bond powder but it was not available where I live (Singapore).

I found powder that was for human use that contained zinc oxide (5%).

- applied it directly on the hot spot on the very morning I bought the powder.

- In the afternoon, I gently brushed off whatever powder that had caked around the edges of the hot spot and those that could easily come off the hot spot. I applied more powder to the 'cleaned' spot.  I had debated whether to wash the hot spot before applying the new layer of powder. I decided not to since I felt that washing would make any remaining powder soggy leading to more moistness (this would be bad) while washing absolutely all off on and around the spot would traumatise the wound too much.

- on the 2nd day, there was no more moistness at the centre of the spot;

- by the 3rd day, the hot spot seemed to be smaller in diameter as the flakes around the edges could come off easily, leaving a smaller spot of dried powder in the centre.

- by the 5th day, the spot was healed over.