(Q) Why do dogs get hot spots?

(A) Vet Roberta Baxter says: There are lots of reasons why some dogs are more prone to skin disease such as hot spots. All dogs have bacteria on the skin surface all the time, but only those with a poor skin barrier, which can be due to underlying skin diseases such as parasites, allergies, poor diet, or the presence of other conditions such as hormonal disease, normally develop hot spots. These occur when damaged skin, sometimes due to itching or injury, becomes infected with normally occurring bacteria. The result is a moist, pus-filled, infected area which is itchy. This gets scratched and becomes worse.

Put your affected dog on an essential fatty acid supplement such as Coatex to improve his skin barrier, and get any symptoms of allergies, such as itchiness, investigated promptly in case treatment of an underlying condition is necessary. Any symptoms of hot spots should be checked out quickly to help minimise any infection and aid treatment.