Nairobi de Castro-Castalia

"Hot spots" are also known as "acute moist pyoderma". These are rapidly appearing, oozing, skin infections.

A hot spot starts because something irritates the dog's skin. The body's response is to create an inflammatory response at the site. The dog being uncomfortable rubs, licks and chews the area adding to the problem. These sores can develop into severe in as little as an hour or two!

The most common irritants are probably fleas and allergies. These cause the itching that leads to the skin infection. There are many other possible sources of irritation. Tick bites, besetting, burrs, mats, mosquitoes, summer heat and other problems all contribute to the initial irritation that can develop into a hot spot.

Some experts will also explain hotspots as a secondary cause to certain forms of stress, such as the time when females come in season and males become excited or when the dogs are on he move from a show to another show non-stop; these times may cause an indirect weakness of the immune system and this can be blamed to cause hotspots sprout.

I personally have seen it happen in animals that are allergic to the saliva or bite of fleas and particularly those that descend from certain bloodlines (usually british or british related) where the light fawn and fawn colours are dominant, particularly those that have a poor pigment, yellowish eyes and light masks, white toenails, etc.

Fortunately hotspots proneness is not related to the “CASTRO-CASTALIA” Bullmastiffs in general, and if one suffers from it incidentally it is an isolated case that resolves easily by cutting the hair around the affected area, washing it thoroughly with water and soap and applying the juice of half a lemon directly into the wound, two or three times a day during four or five days. The hotspot will disappear fast and easily and the hair will grow again to cover the wound in a couple of weeks.

(Original text written by Christina of Lima-Netto and Federico Baudin specifically for this web page and protected with Copyright. Not even whole can be reproduced not partially by any way, without Castro-Castalia's express assent in writing).

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