Hot Spots on Dogs / Using Green Clay. Written by Tami McFadden
Hot Spots On My Dog
We are often contacted about dogs with hot spots.
Hot Spots in dogs can be sore and seem to grow overnight from a small dot on the dogs skin to a whopper of a soggy wet wound. This is distressing for the dog & the pet guardian.
Why do dogs get Hot Spots?
They can start from many things; this list is not exhaustive
- Diet. An overload of carbohydrates in kibble or wet food, or a sensitivity to a protein in raw or cooked food. Legumes, rice, sugars & starches.
- Chemical flea treatments.
- Over use of chemical wormers.
- Over vaccination or vaccine reactions.
- Stress/emotional issues such as boredom/lack of exercise
- Immune reaction to underlying disease
- Seasonal allergies
- Poor level of grooming
- Often prevalent in double coated breeds that swim a lot and don’t dry off properly
- Insect bites & flea allergies.
How Can I Prevent Hot Spots In My Dog?
Ensure the diet is fresh and looked at, and tweaked if needed with help of a professional pet nutritionist.
We prefer a gentle diet during hot spots such as white fish or rabbit, plenty of omega 3 in the form of oily fish or the correct omega supplement gentle vegetables such as courgette, parsley and lettuce which are cooling on the whole.
Each dog is an individual so go with what gentle food works with your dog, if you need help, contact a professional.
Here is what we would do for hot spots.
Add or offer a little Spirulina to the diet.
Use Milk Thistle to aid & support the liver.
Add a soil based pre & probiotic.
Wash the hot spot area with:
1 cup water
Few grains sea salt
Teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
A nice addition to this is Calendula tincture (about 20 drops)
Once the area is clean add neat Green Clay
It will be incredibly soothing, drying & healing. Although the clay falls off it can be ingested and is easily hoovered up. Pack it on and re-apply as needed during the day. We happen to think Green Clay is super soothing and also use it as face masks for ourselves!
Hot spots in dogs can go as fast as they came, finding the cause is key to prevention.
There are many different options when treating hot spots. For example, Colloidal Sliver, Leucillin, Lucaa Wound Spray are what we have found have worked well over the years with dogs in the store & those online who have asked for our help.
https://mrslobberchops.com/collections/shop-4-health/products/health-supplement-for-dogs-french-green-clay-powder-150g
https://www.greensforhealthypets.co.uk/product-category/dog/supplements/allergies-skin-and-coat/