My dog has a weird spot on her back leg. Should I take her to the vet?

I can't tell from the photo if that is a scab or an area of skin discoloration. I recommend to have him examined by the veterinarian to be safe. If that is something like a bruise, that is extremely worrisome. A scab could indicate something like an infection or a hot spot. Best to play it safe and have this checked out. I hope this helps.

It's difficult to tell from your pictures what this is, but it does appear that it may be infected. Even if she can't reach it to lick or chew, if it is itchy or painful she may be scratching it with a foot or even rubbing on the ground or furniture to scratch it. I would recommend a vet visit to assess the spot and determine what it may be. If it is getting larger it could be a mass or growth, or infection/hotspot that requires antibiotics. The vet may clip away the hair from the lesion and possibly do a cytology to find out what type of cells or infection are present. From there appropriate treatment can be determined.

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

That looks like an insect bite that may be infected for it to have a focal light spot in the center. If she seems fine otherwise you can opt to keep an eye on it and make sure it continues to improve. If it does get bigger, if she becomes lame, acts sick, refuses to eat or starts vomiting or has diarrhea, get her in to see your vet right away as there may be something more serious going on.

Hello, sorry to hear about Quincy. It looks like that could be ringworm. If so, it could require treatment with anti-fungals for quite some time. Otherwise, she may need some diagnostics to rule out other causes for this which may include a skin scrape, hair culture, and cytology to look at cells under the microscope to rule out bacteria and yeast infections. In the mean time, you can keep a collar on so that Quincy does not lick at the area or you can use a shirt to cover the area and keep her from licking at it. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hello. All I can see is a small area of dermatitis on the leg. It can have many causes, but you can treat this with an over the counter skin antiseptic called Hibiclens. Gently scrub the skin twice a day & dab dry ( do not rinse ). Do this for about 2-3 weeks & the lesion should clear up. But since I cannot make any kind of actual diagnosis, if the skin becomes more irritated or the area does not seem to be healing, please consider seeing your veterinarian. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I agree with you that the area looks very irritated. It's a little difficult to tell from the pictures, but the area actually looks a little thickened or swollen, so I think it is worth having your veterinarian examine it and do some testing to see what might be going on in order to determine the best treatment for Atlas. Good luck! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.