Meg (Kentucky) on 05/31/2024
Fenimore (UK) on 05/29/2024
Last week my beloved 7 year old Bichon suddenly developed a painful hot spot on his back haunch. I was very concerned as we had been through hot spot horrors before with our previous Bichon, Thisbe. I read testimony after testimony here on Earthclinic. First I tried the ACV diluted half and half with water. It did immediately seem to relieve the pain and itching. He stopped scratching himself. But after three days the sore was still weeping and actually hot. Also his entire backside was now the light brown colour of ACV...not a good look. I tried a saline and hypochlorous spray from Amazon. Again it did seem to help a little. But again the spot was still active and troubling. THEN I found the testimony by Tara of Baton Rouge. https://www.earthclinic.com/pets/hot_spots3.html#lavenderoil
She recommended 5-6 drops of Lavender essential oil added to 1 tbsp of coconut oil.I heated it and added a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to keep it liquid and mixed it, then applied it. Florrie was completely comfortable with it unlike the sprays I had been subjecting him to. It smells lovely. Within a few hours (!!!) the angry red patch was mostly pale pink with only a central small circle of bright red. It was no longer hot but cool to the touch. 24 hours later and the sore is gone. Only a bit of scab on pale pink skin is left!! He is happy and comfortable. I am so amazed and grateful to Tara and Earthclinic! to have found this easy, painless, FAST, zero side-effects resolution to an awful problem is just so wonderful. I wish everyone whose pet suffers with this problem would try this. It's the best solution ever.
John (USA) on 11/05/2023
For our pup's hot spots I put some Colloidal Silver (20ppm) in a spray bottle, and sprayed it on the sore. My poor husky did not like it at first, but she settled down right afterwards. I noticed it scabbed over the very next day!
The first time she had a hot spot, we took her promptly to the vet. They treated her and had her on some meds for a while. Hundreds of dollars later, it seemed to go away...until the next season change, and then all over again. This last time is when I used the one time spray of CS. I can not say the CS cured her, but I would not hesitate to do it again. I guess we will see when the weather warms back up again.
I was thinking that the hot spots could have potentially been caused by bug bites/poison. The pups love to lay under our back deck for the shade, so I got under there and cleaned/brushed the rafters. Raked it all out, and put down some outdoor rug pieces to cover ground. They still seem to want to lay in the few uncovered parts though ;)
I also wondered if it could be from ingesting sugars. You see, I used to let her "clean up" my yogurt cups before discarding. I now see that could be a source of sugar, so only canine-specific treats from here on. We are paying more attention to listed ingredients now. She gets about 2 tsp of coconut oil, and glucosamine chews daily.
I have noticed she is starting to get a little rotund around the mid section. I am wondering if a regiment of DE/(some others) could be beneficial for jump starting her metabolism to start burning some of the excess?
Resilience (California) on 07/01/2023
I recently acquired a pug puppy. Her facial skin folds were a little red. And she even had a little blister possibly from heat. She would scratch and try and rub her face on different surfaces. I tried a few wipes specifically for dog folds or wrinkles and they did not help and may have irritated her even more..
So I remembered my organic raw apple cider vinegar. It's supposed to help balance pH and is good for the skin. Looked it up here on earth clinic. Then I made a solution of 1/2 distilled water and 1/2 raw vinegar and keep it in the fridge. 3 or 4 times a day I dipped a cotton makeup pad (about the size of a stridex pad) half way into the diluted vinegar wring it out and wipe her folds with it being careful not to get it in her eyes. Then I use the dry side to gently dry the folds. I started doing the same thing for her ears and they are clear. It works so well that I now just do it right before bed and sometimes in the day if she's been playing alot outside.
I also make up a cup/mug of cider vinegar again half and half with water, tap water for this. And dip her toes in it for a full minute or two when they start to smell like corn chips. I pour the left over solution over her back and work it into her fur and her fur is very clean and shiny. I don't rinse it off just dry with a towel. I only rinse or wash her when she is visibly dirty. Her skin is beautiful and soft. Not dry or flaky. No visible irritation at all.
Sometimes she takes a little sip of the cider water when I'm soaking her feet. I just let her. I usually give her a couple of treats to encourage her to stay still. A minute is a long time for her. I am down to only a couple paw soaks a week.
Note: She only smells like vinegar while she is wet. No smell when dry. No perfume or chemical smell either. Just clean soft shiny puppy that I love to cuddle and is allowed on the furniture.
Gina (Saratoga Springs, Ut.) on 05/25/2017
I have a 10 year old Bichon who has a hotspot on his front leg. I have treated it with all the the home remedies mentioned. It has healed and the hair has grown back. He has been wearing a collar during his treatments. Our problem is now, even though it has healed, whenever I take off the collar he goes right back to licking the same healed spot. He has had some problems almost like ptsd.
Does anyone have any advice on how I can wean him of having to wear the collar forever?
Daffodil (British Columbia, Canada) on 07/18/2016
Milli (Florida) on 07/10/2016
Tara (Baton Rouge, La) on 05/27/2016
Karen (San Tan Valley, Az) on 04/10/2016
Moneca (Anmore, Bc) on 10/07/2015
When my dog suddenly developed a bloody spot on his behind that he was licking and chewing at, I decided (after calling the vets office to confirm it could be a hot spot) to try some calendula cream I had bought, rubbing it on the spot 3 times daily. Within hours, the spot was amazingly much better. I coudn't believe it so I continued alternating between the cream and Calendula oil I also had on hand, which is made from the squeezed flower mixed with oil, as pure as I could find.
It's been almost a week now and the scabs are gone and there's no real sign of anything left but I will continue on for a few more days to make sure it doesn't come back. Amazing stuff! Highly recommend!
The vet had said he would need prescription cream and possibly even antibiotics so this is a much better way to go! Saved myself quite a bit of money too!
Lisa (Bremen) on 09/04/2015
Michelle (Chicago) on 08/23/2015
Evelyn (Knoxville, Tn) on 08/19/2015
Cindy (Illinois, Usa) on 04/29/2015
Anyway, the next day, the hot spot had scabbed over and the scab was already falling off with no evidence of the awfulness that had been there the day before, under the scab. I was floored. A couple of months later, he had another hot spot and I did the same thing as soon as I noticed - just touched it with some solution on a paper towel, and the next day it was gone. No scab or anything as it wasn't all gooey like the first one which I didn't notice because it was right up under his chin. The second was right on the back of the neck, so I noticed it right away.
So, now he has been shaking his head and having trouble with one of his ears. So, I mixed up some ACV and water - with more water than ACV, about 2:1 - I rolled up a piece of paper towel, dipped it in the solution so that the end of it was soaked but not dripping, snuck up behind him and just sort of poked it into his ear. It was just a paper towel, not tightly rolled so no problem, right?
He hopped around and shook his head a bit and then came over to me as if to say "do that again", so I did, and he yelped and ran off again but hasn't scratched or shaken his head in a couple of hours.
I used to have a Lhaso Apso that had terrible hot spots for months and months until we found a food that didn't bother her. I wish I'd known about the ACV then.
I haven't changed the wawa's food or done anything other than just touched the hot spots with a paper towel dipped in the ACV/water. And when I hit that first hot spot, I used ACV with just a tiny bit of water, so it was mostly ACV, and he took off like a shot! But I had just barely touched it so it worked out anyway.
Anne (Finger Lakes, New York) on 03/24/2015
1 part 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, 2 Parts water, add 50 mule Borax until solution is cloudy (i.e. no more granules will dissolve). Apply with a wet cloth to thoroughly soak affected area. Later you can use a spray a few times a day.
Linda (Las Vegas, Nv) on 12/29/2014
Colleen (Hawaii, US) on 09/06/2014
Mary (South Dakota, US) on 08/30/2014
Laura (Bryan, Tx) on 12/12/2013
Marlene (Buffalo, New York, USA) on 08/31/2013
