Disclaimer: This post might be too graphic and gross for some. Please don’t read if you are easily grossed out.
Oh what a morning! We woke up at around 4am this morning to find Mindy compulsively licking her butt area. I checked and it was a terrible ‘hot spot’ sore (dermatitis). We’ve never had to deal with anything like this, but I remember our previous neighbor had an issue with her dog.
I dug out an old Elizabethan collar and we stuck that around her neck, but it didn’t seem wide/long enough to stop her from licking. Also, Mindy is a burrower under the covers, so needless to say, I wasn’t able to sleep, since I was worried about her trying to lick herself, even with the collar.
I was upset and ready to head to the emergency Vet, but DH calmed me down and said we should wait until daytime at least, so we all went downstairs to the family room.
I tried sleeping with Lexi on the sofa and Mindy was settled down with DH on his recliner. She didn’t seem to have any itching or licking issues, which was good! We woke up later, and Mindy seemed to be acting okay, she was a little put off by the collar. We took both girls outside to pee/poo. Mindy pooed a very small amount at first, and then pooed much more a few minutes later. It was not runny at all, very hard in fact, which is normal for her.
Both girls ate, and I ended up taking the collar off of Mindy to see if she would be more comfortable, and she did fine without it.
In the meantime, I did some online research, and found a great page: http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/hot_spots.html. The conscientious was to use apple cider vinegar, so we made up a batch of 50% ACV and 50% water in a spray bottle.
I sprayed a tiny bit on a paper towel to make sure it wasn’t too painful. (Note: there are reports that it will sting like crazy if it’s an open sore). She didn’t seem to be in pain, so I sprayed some on the sore. I kept spraying every couple of hours.
The sore on her butt was definitely oozing. It ranged from brownish to clear to brownish again.
I also tried applying black tea bags (cooled off) – no herbs or other ingredients, just tea. It stated black tea was best, and initially I only had one green tea bag, but I purchased a box of black tea at the store. It seemed to help, and I think it eased some of the itch.
I didn’t want to use any anti-biotic ointment, because I was afraid the petroleum jelly wouldn’t allow it to dry out enough. Vinegar has anti-biotic properties, so it made sense to use that.
The “redness” was definitely spread from the sore (which was right next to her anus) up to next to her tail (she’s bobbed). Her fur is short, but thick, and it was tough to see under, but there was definitely a larger area of redness, but it didn’t look infected or sore like that one spot.
It was suggested to trim the fur in that area. I tried to, I really did. I put on a latex glove and thought maybe I could trim her fur with little scissors, but it really was impossible. Her fur is so short, and we don’t have any electric clippers. I just figured I would leave it as is for now, and try not to stress her.
So, I did calm down a lot. I’m still upset, but I have a better handle on the situation. I realize it’s not a life and death situation so the Emergency Vet isn’t really necessary. Plus, it’s so expensive ($125 just to walk in), so we’re hoping to get through today and tonight, then call her normal Vet in the morning.
Why do these things always happen on Sundays, after the Vet is closed?!
Note: When we came home last night, I recall seeing some strange stains on the blanket covering the living room chair upstairs – looking back now, I think it must have been some sort of oozing discharge. And Lexi kept sniffing the chair and DH saw her sniffing Mindy’s butt area last night when they were outside. I think she must have started oozing last night, but we never noticed because she never licked herself in front of us. I bet she was licking herself for awhile on the chair when we were out.
UPDATE: I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. I didn’t know if she was going to keep trying to lick at the sore, and with the collar/cone on, I didn’t know how she was going to sleep under the covers. I was planning on sleeping with her on the sofa somehow but I didn’t know how that was going to work, since I know that she would want to sleep in the bed with DH. I started by putting towel and sheet on the sofa, and true to form, she ran upstairs to sleep in our bed instead. So, I figured I would see how she would do under the covers in bed. I was thrilled that she actually did okay. At first, I was skittish with her every move. But it looked like she didn’t even attempt to lick, so we both got a decent sleep. I gave her 1/2 a Benedryl at around 8pm, so I think that might have made her a bit sleepy too.
So, in the morning, I checked her sore, and it was a little oozing still, but not as bad. Plus I was really happy that the redness all above the sore (under her fur) seemed to be gone. I applied another couple of cooled black tea bags, but I didn’t spray on any apple cider vinegar & water mix. I didn’t know if it was stinging her, so I didn’t want to upset her.
I called the Vet and made an appointment, and we went in. The vet said it was an infected anal gland, which was what one of my Facebook friends thought! They trimmed a bit of the fur around the sore, and expressed both of her glands. He prescribed Clavamox (anti-biotic) for 2 weeks (twice daily) and Carprofen for 3 days (twice daily) for pain and inflammation. Both are to be taken with food. It was also suggested to spray warm water once a day to clean out the area. He said that it would take about a week for her to heal.
When we left it was horribly read and oozing blood and pus. It looked very swollen. The poor baby. We also left with a larger Elizabethan collar (cone) that should stop her from any licking. It’s pretty big on her head, so I am very nervous about her walking around alone tomorrow while I am at work, so I will hopefully be able to shut our bedroom door so she won’t be able to move downstairs. I just don’t want her to fall! I know she would hate to be crated, so the closed bedroom would be the best option I think.