Why is my dog's skin gray around a healing hot spot? Is it normal?

Any type of irritation/inflammation can cause the skin to be darker in color when it heals. You can see that in the second picture. It is not abnormal for the darker color in the skin to last for a while, but it almost appears that the skin in the last picture is darker than the second (which might just be an artifical aspect of the picture). The skin appears to have healed well, so if the dark area is just taking a while to resolve, it likely isn't anything worry about. If it appears to be enlarging or getting darker however, I would have your vet examine Addison. I hope that helps! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thank you for including the picture of Marley's skin. This black color change can occur with chronic inflammation, which is my suspicion in this case. I doubt that it's a reaction to the medication, as this would more likely cause some redness and irritation. The color change itself is hyperpigmentation (an increase in pigmentation), but the causes of this are varied and can be temporary or permanent. Regardless, it looks as though this hot spot has healed nicely. It's only a matter of time for the hair to finish regrowing.

Some color changes to the skin can be normal with aging. However if the spots appear red, itchy or bothersome to Olive, grow rapidly in size, or develop a wound/sore, then having it checked out by a vet to rule out other issues such as allergies, infection or illness is always best.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It appears from the pictures that the area is healing over. If this is dry and dark in color, this indicates it is likely healing. This spot will likely flake off once completely healed. If it continues to grow in size or does not resolve, I would have the veterinarian recheck the area so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Poor guy. This looks like a "hot spot" or superficial pyoderma (infected area) on the skin. This can be caused by an initial knick or scrap on the skin that later got infected and scabbed over. Flea bites are a common cause of hot spots, so its best to keep Bono on flea prevention year round it they are common in your area. Your vet should be able to prescribe some oral antibiotics to help this resolve completely. The wound spray you have may be sufficient, so its best to take it in with you to Bono's vet appt for your vet to see. If not, then the vet will likely recommend another topical to use. I hope that Bono's wound heals well. Best wishes and take care!

That area could be an area of healing bacterial infection. However it could also be related to ringworm or mites. It's likely that the area is in the healing process so I suspect it will be completely resolved in a few days. However, if it doesn't resolve or the area starts to grow larger or becomes itchy Max should he examined by a veterinarian. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, and thanks for your question about Maki. This could have been a hot spot, but it could also be something else, such as an abscess (deeper infection), skin mites, etc. I'm a bit unclear as to if that first picture was an earlier picture, and the second one is how the area looks now? The two photos are very different - the area looks much smaller and more moist in the first photo. However, I'm concerned about the size of that bald patch in the second picture, and the fact that the fur still looks wet - which would indicate to me that the underlying issue is not yet cured. I recommend having Maki seen by a vet, where they can better look at those lesions, and start him on oral antibiotics if that's indicated. Hope this helps!