Saturday, July 18, 2009

Jill's New Necklace

Anyone with dogs who lives in even a semi-warm climate has probably, at one time or another, had to deal with hot spots. We've been very fortunate in the past to have been able to avoid them pretty well.

Jill's luck ran out on Thursday, and she is suffering from a nasty hot spot, just at the underside of the base of her tail. She's been licking the stuff I put on it off and irritating it none stop, so it was time for some "cone" action. I've always hated the old "Elizabethan" style of lampshade cone, so this time, we went with something called a "pro collar." It looks more like a life preserver than a cone, and so far it has been doing the job nicely. (Huge thanks to Lisa for picking this up for me!)

Jill, putting it mildly, HATES it, but if it will help her to heal quickly, it's worth her being a little mad at me.

"Take it off! It clashes with my pink bows!"
"Mom, I'm so mad at you I refuse to look you in the eye..."

Here is a little video of her looking really pathetic, and Kona interjecting trying to help talk me into taking it off. He's such a good brother, that is until he abandons her and starts playing with Harley and Jack...

If anyone has any miracle cures for getting rid of hot spots, I'd sure like to hear about it. We are currently trying a concoction of lavender, tea tree and grapefruit essential oils, sprayed directly onto the hot spot. It seems to sooth for a little while, and it sure smells great, but I'm not sure if it's really doing anything. We went to a "hoity-toity" pet store yesterday where they proceeded to quiz me on everything she's ever eaten since she was a puppy, what shampoo we use, etc., and tried to sell me about $200 bucks worth of crap I know we didn't need. So many of the items in pet stores have alcohol and other chemicals in them-I certainly wouldn't put them on me if I had a hot spot, and I certainly won't put them on my pooch. No, thank you very much, we left....went by a health food store, got the essential oils and came home to give it a try. As I mentioned, I'm up for ideas if you have them. Of course going to the vet is an option, but I sometimes hate to walk in for an office visit, have to pay $40 to hear someone tell me, "Oh, go home, keep the area dry, and it will take care of itself..."

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend, and I look forward to your hot-spot remedy suggestions.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

We live in Victorville. The high desert. We have had at least one gr for 19 of our 20 years here. We have never had a problem with the hot spots. When I was a kid in the OC I remember the dogs would get them though. We don't have much humidity here and no fleas unless we import them and bring them inside our homes. Jill is welcome to come visit while she heals. I hope she heals soon.

Paco,Milo, Maya and mommy Simona said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh poor Jill!!!!
Sue.....you can try to use K9 Klear Up!!!
Some of our friends have tryed it and have had wonderful results!!!!!
Here are the link if you want try it!!!!
www.k9klearup.com
It's completely natural and is great against hotsot!!!
let me know what do you think about that product!!!!
Hope to give you a good advice!!!!
We love you and your super special goldie gang!!!!
Sweet kisses and licks!!!!
P.S.:
See this blog....you can see how K9 working!!!!
http://nottiescottie.blogspot.com/2009/07/k9-klear-upwow.html

donna said...

I only ever had this problem with a cat that was allergic to fish... I have one friend whose dachsund has allergies and gets them when her belly rubs in the grass in the summer -- they give her benadryl. Seems to help.

They seem to be related to food, heat, or contact with something the dog is allergic to. For me, lavender and tea tree oil ARE things I'm allergic to, so I use olive oil, shea butter or jojoba based products. Dunno what would work for Jill, though.

Golden Samantha said...

Oh poor Jill - she looks so tolerant, actually, in the video - what a sweetie. I don't have a clue, thus I'd probably go to the vet if Samantha were totally uncomfortable - especially in the tail area - ugh. Sounds like Paco and Milo have an idea that I'll have to remember. Get better sweet Jill.
Hugs xo
Sammie

kks said...

love the video! but would have like to see a picture of the hot spot...i think the most important thing to do is shave the area completely, it doesn't look good, but essential to healing, haven't heard about the natural remedies, but sound good....keep it clean and dry, no scratching, or licking, OH NO, no swimming...if it starts to become infected...antibiotics...poor Jill...
fortunately my goldens have never had a hot spot...when we got back from our trip up north, Tahoe from swimming so much had a matt behind her ear, could tell a perfect environment for a hot spot, shaved it down and no problems...good luck! hope this helps! :)

Ms. ~K said...

This is the second time today I've seen this cool collar....big improvement over the dreaded E-collar!
Hope the hot spots clear up soon!
Love your doggy bloggy!
~Kit

Golden Daily Scoop said...

What a shame, you poor thing. I really like that new cone, Miley just had surgery and she's wearing the lamp shade, think I'll look for one of those!!! Get better soon!!!

Miley's mom

Maxmom said...

Dear Sue
My sympathies with Jill's hot spots.
Here in SA the temps get really high and in summer, Max, has spent his life in the pool...until the dreaded hot-spot. In Max's case, it was all related to being constantly wet in a high temp environ and him developing a kind of 'yeast' skin infection.
Over the many years, we have learnt (no matter how horrible it sounds) that the only thing for Max...is to shave him and shampoo him up in one of special shampoos that our Vet prescribes. And then, unfortunately - ban him from the pool. It was a harsh treatment for me (as his mom) to accept, but it really is the only thing that has helped him....sigh.
I hope your beautiful doggie gets well soon
Lots of love
Caryl (Max's mom)

Sophie Lou said...

Jill you look so pathetic with your "necklace". Poor baby! I do, however, love your little pink bows. Hope you feel better soon!

Cassie said...

Never saw one of those soft collars before. Our little Welsh Terrier has allergies and was gnawing at his legs. A trip to the vet only gave us the same advise regular folks told us: give him 1-2 t. of Benedryl. He seems to be a a bit better, but not sure if that was what helped.

YD, sometimes with ♥June and ♥Angel Samantha said...

Poor Jill. I do know those "Hot Spots". Samantha gets them too but so far(knock on wood) we have been lucky.
Get better Jill.

Coffee Talk with Shar said...

Poor Jilly! As for the hotspot, no real idea if she is likcing everything off. We tried apple bitter with Dugan when she would get them, but she too would like it anyhow. Maybe some baking soda patties??

The necklace looks marvelous, darling!

Anniessa said...

OK, so I'm a little late here ...

Dakota used to get them when we were in Lakeside. Good old Gold Bond powder was great, and we used melaleuca oil, too. And go ahead and trim off all of the pretty hair ... it will fall out anyway and if you get ahead of it, it will heal faster.