Pustule sores

[uncle D]

After scouting with Hurricane, (we went thru some dense stuff. Scrub oak, palmettos, smilex, etc).

The last couple weeks of season, Hurricane developed pustule sores around his nose, mouth and neck. They irritated him so much that he scratched himself till he bleed. His inside of his mouth was irritated as well.
It seemed that he got into some poisen oak, ivy or something.

I cleaned him w/ peroxide, then applied trip-antibiotic and gave him benedryl for the itching.

This seem to work, but this past week he has developed signs again. This time on the back of his head and around his shoulder. It' is bothering him pretty bad and he is discomfortable.

We ran out of his normal food, (sweet potato/herring) and have been feeding him rachel ray's grocery store food, (it has the least amount of corn).

Any ideas, help, etc.

Duke

[g8rvet]

I do have a few ideas. How old is he? Could you send me a picture of the affected area? Keep it covered with triple antibiotic until we speak again. Same for the benadryl.

[uncle D]

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn265/hurricane870/IMGP1250.jpg

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn265/hurricane870/IMGP1249.jpg

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn265/hurricane870/IMGP1248.jpg

Duke

[uncle D]

Gvet,

I recall after that day scouting, I picked several ticks off Cane, but the first festers, (Jan) started around mouth, then later at the tick bite locations.

The current spots are where possible other tick bites.

I've had dogs in the past that have had similar conditions, but Cane's seem pretty bad. He's back to his old diet of 5 years now and I think the irritation /itching isn't as bad. he's in pain because of the sore/infection now.

Duke

[g8rvet]

Those are "hot spots" or Idiopathic Pyotraumatic Dermatitis (translation: Idiot's Disease Infected Traumatized, Inflammed Skin - the idiot part is us, not the dog, cause we don't know the cause).

The absolute hallmark of getting rid of these is to get the hair off them - shave the skin! Also, cleaning them with antibacterial soap helps. Finally, topical or injectable steroids are often needed to get them under control.

There are many causes and until there is some recurrence, it is often hard to figure out the trigger, it may be allergic, stress, sensitivity, etc. In many patients, we never figure out why they get them.

Go here:
http://quincyah.com/site/view/129032_PetLibrary.pml;jsessionid=jzfk2y141om7
and type in "hot spot"

[uncle D]

Thanks Doc.

I'll keep it clean. I'll bet it's diet. He's been eating that grocery store stuff for little more than a month.


Duke

[bandit1]

My dog got some of those and they had a yeast smell. I treated them with an ear cleansing solution which dried them up. I narrowed it to nasty water keeping that are wet for a long time after repeated hunts. The vet also said put atheletes foot ointment on them to dry them up.