Todd was going home one evening when he stopped at a light. While waiting patiently for it to change, he spotted a mutt huddled next to a fence chewing on itself with great intensity. The light seemed longer than usual and Todd kept watching as the dog chewed. He noticed a bright red area on its leg and what looked like blood. The poor animal was making itself bleed.
Billy decided to pull his car over to the curb and have a closer look at her. He was well aware that if he drove away, it would bug him for weeks. As first, when Billy climbed out of his car, the dog didn’t even look at him. As he moved closer, Billy could hear her whimpering as she chewed. He approached her cautiously and slowly reached out to her.
The area was circular and red, with a swollen area in the center almost the size of a plate. Her coat was mostly gone in that area, but she was determined to keep chewing. The dog seemed so miserable.
Billy carefully searched around her neck and found a tag on her collar. He used his cell to call John, the dog’s owner and informed him that they had been looking for her for two days. John said he would be there in 20 minutes and Billy warned him that she was not doing well and had what looked like a dog hot spot.
As soon as Sally got there, Sam showed her the hot spot. “Over the years I’ve seen dog hot spots and this is definitely one.”, said Sam. “If this is not taken care of soon, she may get several more sites like it.” They talked about it and decided that the overnight vet a few miles away would be a good idea.
Once there, the vet shaved and cleaned the infected area and then placed an Elizabethan cone around her head to keep her from licking and chewing. Todd thought to himself that she was lucky that he found her when he did. After a few weeks, with the proper care, the hot spots would go away and she would be okay.
Susan helps teach dog owners how tostop dogs hot spots and writes about allergies and hot spots on dogs.
