[Liesje]

I was just rubbing and petting Coke, thinking about taking him outside to brush him, when I found a big oozing wound on him! I have NO idea what this is or where this came from. Yesterday I was at an agility trial all day with Kenya. DH had to work a double shift, so his SIL came over around noon to take Coke out. I got home around 6pm. I've taken the dogs out several times since then, but I am always outside when they are playing, usually doing yard work or cleaning the porch. They've been very playful, as they usually are when Kenya comes home after being away from Coke, but nothing out of the ordinary, no yelps from Coke to indicate she bit him. DH came home after midnight and went to bed, then got up and went to work at 8am, so the dogs were in the bedroom with me that whole time. After they played this morning I went to my grandpa's apartment for lunch and left the dogs free in the house. When I leave them free, I shut them inside (no porch) and shut the door to DH's room b/c there's a lot they can get into in there. Nothing was unusual when I got back. I have no clue how old this wound is, if it's a bite or what. Coke hasn't been licking or scratching the area, otherwise I probably would have noticed. It's on his left shoulder. When I pull all the hair back, the wound is about the size of a silver dollar coin, maybe bigger. It doesn't look like a puncture, I can see raw pink skin. It's almost like his fur got stuck on something and ripped off? It doesn't seem to be bleeding, but the fur around the area is sticky and clumpy, it looks very wet so I think it's oozing. I didn't touch the actual wound, but Coke didn't really seem to notice when I parted the fur to get a look at the wound. I tried to get a few pics, distracted him by hiding treats in a shoe so he was trying to dig them out while I took the pics. He doesn't *seem* affected at all so I didn't want to make a big deal but I'm quite appalled by this. I'm reluctant to blame Kenya since like I said, it doesn't look like a puncture and in the past if the dogs get too rough, Coke will yelp and then lie down and ignore Kenya or she will snap and walk away. They've never been in a fight or injured each other more than pulling out a little clump of hair or one dog slipping and falling during play.

Here are my pics. Sorry these are horrible. I'll try to get better ones when DH gets home. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it and I don't have any way to hold him down by myself.

See the hair falls over it, that's why I didn't see it and only noticed it as I was petting that area and felt clumps in the fur. I thought he got into something sticky.

I'm going to go through the house and see if it looks like he got stuck on something while I was gone this morning.

Any ideas on what this is or how I can tell how old the wound is??!?!?! Does this look like something Kenya did?


More info....called DH and he said he didn't notice anything. He said his SIL did come and take Coke out yesterday, didn't mention anything wrong. I searched the house but cannot find a clump of hair. I took Coke outside to see what he would do, and he wanted Kenya to play with him. I took him back in b/c I don't want the wound getting dirty or her accidentally biting it.

You cannot see it normally

Here you can see it b/c he stretched out.

I'm thinking this is very recent, as now the ooze seems to be drying and the hair is starting to clump a lot more.

 

[Lauri & The Gang]

Looks like a hot spot. These happen when the dog licks itself and the spot doesn't dry.

The key to fixing a hot spot it to get it dry and KEEP it dry.

I clip the hair around the spot to let it breathe. Then I wash it with mild soap and water and blow dry, making 200% sure to get the WHOLE area dry. If it's bad enough (or big enough) I will use something like Gold Bond powder to help it dry.

Then the challenge is to keep the dog from licking it more. The dogs saliva causes the wound to 'spread'.

Good luck!

 

[Liesje]

How does he get such a big oozing spot in a matter of hours? I thought maybe it was an older wound, but I keep checking it and I can see the ooze is starting to dry and crust. Also, when I got home last night, Coke was really excited so I rubbed him all over like I usually do and no doubt would have noticed it then, since that's how I discovered it today (rubbing all over). I brush him every day or every other day so I would have seen it developing.

 

[onyx'girl]

I agree hot spot. Clover use to get them on her back leg flanks in the later summer and the longer coated dogs seem to get them more often. It is in a spot though, where he can't lick it can he? Gold bond works great! Off topic, how was the agility trial? I thought of you guys in the rain all day(

 

[Liesje]

I can't clean it up, I'll have to have the vet do it. I had him tethered and muzzled just now and he is flipping out the second I get near it. Wouldn't let me near him with a scissors and the second I touched it with a drop of water to rinse it he flipped out.

 

[BrennasMom]

I've only had one dog get a hot spot in the past, but it came on very suddenly. Its like the fur and top layer of skin just came off and left an oozy sore underneath. Our vet sent us home with a spray and it healed OK. I believe they can be caused by allergies among other things.

 

[SunCzarina]

It might be a hot spot, but as I recall when Rex and Luther got them, they'd lick at the constantly.

Looks like a burn to me - maybe he brushed up against a piece of metal (like a fence bracket maybe) that was really hot in the sun?

 

[Liesje]

I'm going to call the vet tomorrow. I'd like for them to shave around it. He won't let me do it and I don't want him hating me (I don't care if he hates the vet tech). He was lying on his left side earlier so it can't be that big of a deal. Now he knows that we know it's there and he won't let us touch it. It seems the hair is more of a bother than the sore itself, so I want the vet to clear the area so it can dry and heel. The sore is whitish pink so I think it's clean. No point in wasting $300 on the e-vet, but I will watch to make sure it doesn't get inflamed looking.

Do you think he should skip agility tomorrow night?

 

[Liesje]

You know I think you guys are right, I did not know a hot spot happens this fast. It has been so hot and HUMID here. Coke is a mutt and has a very very thick undercoat. He looks a lot like a Golden Retriever, but his coat is MUCH thicker, stands farther off the body (he is about 25" and looks HUGE but only weighs 62 lbs, it's all coat). Also I notice he kinda smells. Not a bad smell, but he's getting a musty smell to him, I think from the coat and the humidity. We don't have air conditioning and the other day when I checked it was 88 in my bedroom.

Last week I actually trimmed his ears because they were getting so sticky and even with daily brushing the hair was constantly tangled.

We are going on vacation in a few weeks and before then I'm taking him to PetSmart to see if they can shorten all his feathering and give him a bit of a trim.

How exactly does a hot spot work? How is it that they can lose that much hair and skin in just a few hours?

 

[onyx'girl]

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html
google for more info
When Clover use to get them, I did take her to the vet and vet said goldens are very suseptible to them(the coat) I now know how to treat, so if she does develop any again, I use diluted listerine for disinfecting, and then gold bond after cutting away the fur around it.

 

[Skye'sMom]

I wonder if it could also be a cyst that opened up and drained? Pictures look more like a hot spot, but could e iether.

Skye has a large (to me - walnut shell size) cyst just behind her shoulders. Vet told me that we'll watch it and cut it out if it begins to bother her. Also told me there is a possibility it could open on it's own. Seems pretty solic now and you can tell it is just in the skin.

Let us know what the vet says - that's an area that will be hard to wrap to keep meds on.

 

[Liesje]

I guess he could've had a cyst. I rub him all over (he likes to be rubbed, does not like his head pet b/c someone used to hit him) and I brush him a lot so I hope I would notice these things but who knows. I just took him out and brushed him all over, got as close as I dared to the hot spot. He doesn't mind when I rake him (doesn't so much like the pin brush on his pants and tail, but that can be done less often). It looks so painful! I can't believe he's letting Kenya bite him and rolling on that side. I'm really hoping the vet will see us tomorrow afternoon b/c I don't want it to get bigger. It's bigger than I thought, once I move the hair over, like one inch across and two and a half inches long.

 

[agilegsds]

I wonder if it could have been a warble? Piper had something very similar on her side. It started out as a small bump with a black spot inside. Then one day we came home to an open nasty oozing wound, much like you described. The vet said it looked like a bite wound or other puncture wound. But I know for a fact that it was not a bite wound - she was fine in the morning and crated until we came home and found it. And there was no way to miss it. He put her on antibiotics and eventually it healed, but it took a long time to completely go away. Then I heard about warbles and did some research and was convinced that's what it was. The black spot and subsequent wound looked just like the pics I found.

Anyhow, here's some info on it from the State of Michigan. Looks like warbles are there:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26354--,00.html

 

[onyx'girl]

My sister had a cat with this(warble), and usually I think it hits the sinus/throat region, doesn't it? Vet had to pull out the larvae...Nasty!

 

[GunnerJones]

hot spot. I treat my dogs with Listerine and Bitter Apple. at days end I make sure the puppers are cool and dry, havent had a prob yet this year knock on wood

 

[kelso]

just thought I would reply about the cyst idea

Kelso had a well circumscribed "bump" for a few months. I had asked about it and it looked and acted like a cyst so we left it alone. It was very hard to notice if you weren't palpating his neck, I just happened to find it, but it could have gone unnoticied.

It was fine until I noticied one day it had burst and then started to puss and scab, I noticied it immediatly I am sure as the day before it was fine (I was keeping an eye on it). I had just ran my hand down his neck and felt a scab, which was a new thing. It was a few months back so it wasnt very hot out and it is literally between his shoulders so there is almost no way he could get at it to lick it. He could have scratched at it I suppose, but he did not appear itchy.

We went to the vet and got him on some cream ( it was anti fungal/anti microbial/ anti inflammatory. It went away in about a week.

Here is a pic, right after he got his hair shaved at the vet and it was scabbing. You could not see it with the naked eye before he was shaved. I know it looks gross, and I was certaintly alarmed, but like I said it is gone now. Coke's looks a little different, but Kelso's wasnt as cleaned up in this pic as Coke's looks.

Skin stuff is hard, hard to see sometimes and hard to diagnose..Hope Coke gets all fixed up

 

[kelso]

oh, and Kelso is really pretty thick haired too. And I thought it was a lot smaller than it turned out to be after the spot got shaved

 

[3K9Mom]

I vote for a cyst too. As soon as I read your description and saw the photos (the gunk in the fur).

Here's my rule about putting stuff like Listerine on open wounds. If you pour it in your eye and it will burn, then it's too harsh. I would never pour Listerine (which is 27% alcohol) or anything like that on it (why do people always want to use weird substances on their dogs that aren't designed for that purpose? I mean, I guess if you were in the middle of the wilderness for a while, then I would, but...) Alcohol will kill skin cells on open wounds.

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/firstaid/antisept.htm

If you can run to the drug store, Betadine is perfect for cleaning open wounds. (It's the bright orangy-brown liquid stuff. Generic is fine.) Otherwise, Clean gently with soap and water. Plain old Ivory bar soap or something similar. Trim the surrounding fur a bit to help get some additional air there, to help dry out the wound. Apply some Neosporin or other antibac ointment (I like Neosporin Plus. Sometimes Neosporin can sting on a gaping wound. The Plus stuff doesn't. It has a pain reliever in it.). Cover if possible with loose gauze. If you can't get gauze pads to stay in the right place, a t-shirt always works and is a nice fashion statement.

If you can't keep it covered, try to keep it clean --or re-clean as needed -- and also do what you can to ensure the area doesn't get sunburned.

It should be healed shortly.

Also, feel around Coke for other cysts. Where there's one, there's probably more. If so, you'll know they're coming, but now, you'll have all the supplies on hand!

Poor Coke.

 

[EastGSD]

Sounds like a cyst to me as well. I would just leave it alone if it is showing no sign of infection. My Cinder once cut her chest on the chain link fence (crazy dog) and left a 4 inch gash in her chest that was through the top few layers of skin. The last layer was intact, no bleeding and nothing going on with it so I left it alone. It healed itself up like a zipper and now you would never know it had been there unless you really feel for it.

 

[kutzro357]

sebaceous cyst is my guess. kaiser had one last year. We were walking and out of the blue I see blood running down his leg. The hole was huge and open. The vet and I cleaned it out and got out all the ****, got antibiotics and let it heal open whenever possible. It healed nice and never came back. Some will come back.
Good luck with it. They`re gross and freaked me out at first.