Hotspots in Dog

My dog has a problem with hotspots on his paws and on his hips. (pembroke welsh corgi).  We have changed his food and don't give treats anymore to see if that would help. It has not. He is eating the fish and potato diet now.  It seems to be worse when he comes in from outside. Even with snow on the ground..Could this be an airborne allergy? What can we do to get these healed? Thanks

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Most dogs with food allergies also have environmental allergies.  Environmental allergies don't have to occur only from things that are outside.  Dust mites, storage mites and indoor molds are high allergens also.  Since allergens penetrate dogs skin it is good to bathe your dog very frequently (once per week) with medicated, hypoallergenic shampoo.  Environment allergies are impossible to control.  A Hepa air filter will help for indoor and outdoor allergens.  It may also help to get your dog tested for enviromental allergies so that you can desensitize him to them, or try to eliminate them from the environment.  You may also need medications at certain times of the year to help control the allergies.  A good choice of medication is Temeril P which is an anti-histamine and steroid combination.  There are some herbal formulas that would help also such as: Nettles tincture or the Chinese herbal formula called San Ren Tang, both are available online.

A fish ad potato food trial takes at least 3 months.  Have you noticed any improvement in this time?  Good Luck!

[debj52]

my dogs have the hot spots to ..we have to keep the advantage plus on them all year round....where do you live?...hope it gets better....we also got from the vet genta spray topical spray from the vet to put on my girls and it sure has helped between the advantage and the spray...only had to spray them a few times....hope this helps hope your furkid gets better....take care....deb

[lilbopper]

Thanks so much for your replies. I appreciate them and will check out all of your ideas.