Dog chewing tail raw: What causes hotspots despite flea meds & diet?

Hello Susan! Thank you for your question to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Fleas actually live in the environment, not on the dog, so if you don't disinfect the environment, it will be a continuing source of fleas. Wash Bella's bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Diatomaceous earth does nothing to treat fleas, so don't use it. Now some dogs can have allergies to flea saliva, and that can lead to continued skin issues. This could be causing her to continually chew at that spot. I'd have her seen by a vet for this issue so it can be treated. Best of luck.

Poor Girl! Without seeing her in person, it is impossible for me to know what caused it. It could be fleas. Mange usually causes hairloss on other places like the feet and face. She likely has an infection from chewing. I would first put a cone collar on her to prevent the chewing. I would then start her on Benadryl twice a day to help decrease the itching. If it isn't improving, I would have your vet take a look. Your vet will likely want to put her on antibiotics and possibly stronger allergy meds to help it heal. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy or fleas. The allergy could be a due to a protein in Rocky's food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Rocky will need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. Since Rocky seems to continually have this problem he may need to be on an allergy medication long term. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control too. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Rover with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start him on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting him on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

Looks like your little lady is giving herself some hot spots there. If there is a hot spot forming under the hair then the best thing to do is to remove the hair and cleanse the area with an antibacterial solution. Some dogs require topical and/or oral antibiotics and other dogs benefit from some steroids to stop the itch. Most hot spots are secondary to underlying allergies (inhaled/environmental, food, or flea). If seasonal environmental is most likely. The best way to help her would be to see your family vet to have the areas addressed topically and so that medications can be prescribed to treat any infection and stop the itch. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

It sounds like Vexa has either a hot spot or fleas. You must make sure to protect the area from chewing as this will only make it worse. Have her wear an Elizabethan collar at all times. You should wash the area daily and rinse it well. You can also apply a dab coconut oil to the lesion twice daily. If this does not start to improve within a few days, have her seen. You should also treat her for fleas using a good product such as Simparica. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hot spots are superficial bacterial infections of the skin that often happen secondary to trauma such as a dog scratching itself - so it is possible that a flea infestation could *lead* to hot spots. With flea infestations, dogs often focus their scratching/chewing at the base of the tail, but tend to scratch everywhere. Fleas themselves may be found if you look closely, particularly on the belly and thighs where the hair is thinner and they may be easier to see. An experienced observer looks for evidence of "flea dirt", which is the digested blood fleas pass in their feces. It looks like tiny black dots (almost like black dandruff) but if you smear it on a damp paper towel it becomes rusty red. Hot spots, again, may occur secondary to the scratching with fleas, but also very commonly happen secondary to allergies. If the problem is a hot spot alone, the dog will focus their scratching/chewing at the hot spot. Hot spots tend to cause focal areas of hair loss and the skin will be moist, a bit stinky, and very irritated/tender. When in doubt, it is *always* a good idea to make sure your dog has a high quality flea/tick preventative (Nexgard, Bravecto, Advantix, Revolution are my personal top choices). Hope this helps!