Hot Spots in Dogs, Cats, Horses and Livestock

Hot Spots in Dogs, Cats, Horses and Livestock

One of the most common medical complaints in dogs and cats is the familiar “Hot Spot” -- also called “acute moist dermatitis.”

There are many causes of hot spots, including allergies and parasites, but the common factor is infection, whether bacterial, fungal, or yeast (another type of fungus). A hot spot can appear anywhere on the body: hind leg, feet, rump area, neck, etc.

The bottom line for your pet is that there is an infection and intense itching, regardless of how it got that way.

Sometimes hot spots seem to appear out of thin air. For example, many animals are very sensitive to simple lawn grasses. These animals are physically and nutritionally normal, but show signs of inflamed skin and hair loss. If the animal bites and chews at the inflamed area, it could quickly become a hot spot, similar to the one shown below.

Minute scratches on the skin from a clipper blade may also trigger a hot spot.
Moist eczema is one example of a hot spot type. If the coat is dense or allowed to become matted, moisture on the skin may remain long enough to allow superficial bacteria to reproduce and create an infection.

Rashes and Skin Infections
(Infectious Dermatitis)

Bacterial, fungal and yeast organisms are notoriously obnoxious skin and coat pathogens. They can cause skin infections for your dog, itching, rashes, dog dandruff, and other problems in otherwise healthy dogs.

Bacterial dermatitis rarely occurs spontaneously. Normal healthy skin has tremendous numbers of a variety of bacteria present all the time. If something upsets the normal balance, such as antibiotics eliminating one or two types, the remaining types proliferate. Any contact with grass, plastic, an abrasion or moisture, or parasitic invasion can bring down the skin’s defensive barriers and opportunistic bacteria then have their way.

Fungal infections first appear as one or more small areas of hair loss that may be reddened or inflamed. As infection progresses, crusts may form on the area of hair loss, the patches increase in number and size, and large portions of skin may become involved.

Yeast, a type of fungus, can irritate an already diseased skin surface. Yeast infections typically create greasy, odorous and inflamed skin in affected dogs. Symptoms may include blackening of the skin, dry flaky skin or greasy type grit on the skin. As the condition worsens, a bad yeasty smell or odor may accompany this, and the dog will experience severe itching, leading to endless biting, chewing and hair loss.

DERMagic products fight yeast and most types of fungus, fast, and are the first line of defense against dog hot spots and other canine and feline dermatitis.