Managing Dog Hot Spots and Acral Lick Granulomas

If you find your dog chewing on themselves throughout the night, a skin condition may be hiding under their fur. Dog hot spots and acral lick granulomas are two skin conditions that may be responsible for your dog's incessant chewing and scratching.

Learn more about how these hot spots can develop into granulomas, the signs that your dog may have a skin condition and the processes for diagnosis and treatment.

Dog Hot Spots vs. Acral Lick Granuloma

Hot spots, sometimes referred to as summer sores (or acute moist dermatitis for a technical term), occur when the skin becomes traumatized by frequent, vigourous scratching or licking. This can occur because of underlying issues including allergies, mites, or fleas. However, it can also occur when moisture gets trapped against the skin (such as during times of humid weather or after swimming) under a thick hair coat. Once this scratching or chewing is underway, the protective barrier of the skin is injured, allowing an assortment of invading bacteria and yeast to invade. A skin infection often ensues in the form of a hot spot. As the hot spot develops, the skin becomes sensitive (and often painful) and prompts a stronger scratching response as the skin becomes itchier. This itching further traumatizes the skin and the hot spot starts to grow.

Lick granulomas, on the other hand, occur over time as your pup incessantly traumatizes an area of skin, usually around their wrists or paws. Why our pets develop these sores is not well understood, but is believed to influenced by both physical factors (pain, itchiness, etc.) and psychological factors such as anxiety or even manifestations of obsessive compulsive disorder. It eventually becomes a vicious cycle of your pooch causing self-inflicted damage to their skin, followed by gradual development of an irritating sore that further drives a compulsion to bother the area. It's important to understand this distinction in how lick acral granulomas develop because depending on the root cause, your veterinarian may need to pursue very different treatment approaches.

Clinical Signs of a Skin Condition

Dog hot spots can appear very suddenly. In fact, many pet parents feel as though they appear overnight. Hot spots may be:

• Red or pink in color
• Raw
• Oozing or shiny
• Bloody
• Yellow or green from pus
• Warm to the touch, hence their name
• Hidden under fur during early stages

Hot spots can occur anywhere on the body, but they tend to occur in places where dogs can easily chew or scratch, such as the tail base, flanks, ears, top of head and neck and are often painful or sensitive to the touch. Lick granulomas, on the other hand, may appear worse than hot spots. The skin of these wounds may appear:

• Pink to red
• Dark gray to blackened
• Gnarly and thickened
• Wet
• Scabbed or scarred
• Bloody

Many pet parents will be able to tell that these aren't fresh wounds. Thickened skin is the body's failed attempt to lay down scar tissue and heal itself. The forelimbs and feet, in particular, are common places for lick granulomas in dogs.

Dogs at Risk of Hot Spots and Acral Lick Granulomas

A dog's fur provides ideal shelter for bacteria and yeast, and when warmer weather increases temperatures and humidity, the reproduction of microorganisms is inevitable. Dogs with thicker coats or dogs who haven't yet shed their winter coat are more at risk for the overgrowth of bacteria. All that extra insulation creates perfect conditions for the propagation of normally benign bacterial that inhabits your dog's healthy skin. Dogs prone to allergies or high-strung pets prone to boredom are also at risk for hot spots any time of the year.

According to veterinarians at Veterinary Information Partner, breeds commonly affected by dog hot spots are larger, working class breeds, such as the Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Great Dane, Irish Setter, German Shorthaired Pointer, and German Shepherd. Dogs of all ages and genders may develop hot spots or lick granulomas.