Dog chewing tail after flea pill. How to treat hot spots?

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!

The spot on the tail looks like a hotspot right now. Hot spots can be common with food allergies and fleas (which you are already treating). The article below discusses treating hot spots. If Summer can still lick his tail, you may need a long e-collar. https://www.petcoach.co/article/hot-spots-acute-moist-dermatitis-in-dogs/

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It looks like chocolate has a bit of a hotspot developed there, probably from some sort of allergy. If she is not on a good flea preventative, then start her on the best one you can afford. You can also treat the area with a little cortisone ointment, rubbing just a dab onto the skin 1-2 times daily. If the area seems to be getting worse, please have your veterinarian examine the skin as soon as possible to make sure the area is not infected or something else is developing. Take care.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear Belka is having issues with her skin. Open sores on the skin under the tail can be secondary to fleas, but can also be due to infected or impacted anal glands, among others. If she has active sores, they may require antibiotics and an anti-itch medication to resolve, as well as treating any underlying flea issue. She may also need to wear a cone collar to prevent him from licking/chewing at the area and re-aggravating it. I would recommend she be evaluated by her regular veterinarian and then can start on any medications (antibiotics, etc) that she may need to help resolve it. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From the pictures, it appears Riley has a skin infection known as a hot spot. She will need to be seen by a veterinarian to determine the underlying cause and get treatment for the infection and itching. Hope this helps!

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!

Poor Cali is having a rough time lately! In my experience, flea shampoos, collars, and dips do not work to prevent fleas, nor do they kill them very well. I can give you a flea treatment program that can help with fleas. You did the right thing, however, by bug bombing the house and flea spraying the yard. As for treating the fleas, first I would give Cali Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. Other causes of the itching of her tail include mites, ringworm, or allergies. You can take Cali into the vet to rule out these causes of her biting her tail. The vet can do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm. Once the cause of the itching is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment.