Hot Spots on Dog

[Heritage Essential Oils]

Joy asked: Has anyone had any experience with essential oils in treating "hot spots" on dogs? I have two registered Chows, and the black male always gets hot spots really bad, especially during the summer. The white female never gets hot spots. The Vet's #1 method of treatment is a dose of cortisone, which I am a firm believer is not good for the dog. I'm looking for an oil that has proven itself in treating hot spots. Anyone?

Karen answered: Last year, for the first time, we had to deal with hot spots on our English Springer Spaniel. She had lots of itching and loss of fur around the spots. Over the counter meds did nothing, and I didn't want to use steroids either. One thing our vet suggested that we do was to boost her immunity. He suggested probiotics and a daily chicken liver. This is a blend that I found on the internet, and it worked very well for our dog, so much so that the vet was shocked! 

Hot Spot Remedy

1 oz (30mL) of Coconut oil (I used fractionated)

8 drops Lavender essential oil

5 drops Clove essential oil - [HEO's comment: Clove essential oil is not typically used by traditional aromatherapist due to skin irritation risk. See Clove Bud infusion tip below in Kristen Bell's Hot Spot Healer recipe.]

5 drops Tea Tree essential oil

5 drops Rosemary essential oil

2 Vitamin E capsules squeezed into the blend 

Perhaps you could make a small sample bottle and try it on a spot or two first?

Hot Spot Spray Recipe by Melissa Shelton DVM
2 oz glass spray bottle of distilled water
7 drops Lavender
5 drops Tea Tree
4 drops Copaiba
Shake well before spraying, and spray the skin as needed, generally 1-4 times daily.

Hot Spot Healer (Moist Acute Pyoderma) by Kristen Leigh Bell (certified aromatherapist with almost 30 years of practice with animals)

15 mL base oil (Bell uses hazelnut or sweet almond)

15 drops Clove Bud (Eugenia carophyllata) infusion (NOTE: This is not clove bud essential oil!)

7 drops Lavender (Lavandula angustifoila)

3 drops Sage (Salvia officinalis)
To create the Clove infusion, add 1/2 cup Clove Buds to 1 cup Sweet Almond oil. Simmer the buds and oil together over very low heat for two days, then strain the oil out and store in a dark glass bottle. The infusion provides some of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the Clove Buds without the risk of irritation.

Joy asked, "Why do some have hot spots and others don't?" 

I think many feel that it is a gut issue, so doing the probiotics and raw egg are good attempts to heal/nourish the gut. Have your considered feeding RAW food? We had a dog for a few years and only fed him raw meat. He ate the meat and bones (bones are soft unless cooked - we never feed cooked bones). We reasoned that dogs in the wild don't eat much, if any, grains, they eat rabbits and other animals raw. Our dog was very healthy. She was outdoors on a farm and had virtually no fleas or ticks. We never vaccinated or gave her any pharmaceuticals of any kind including wormers. Vaccinations may be the culprit to compromising the gut - I don't know, but I'd stay on the path you are on and treat the gut. You mentioned fish oil tablets. Consider liquid fish oil and meat bones with fat on them for the dogs to chew on. The dog's body needs the food resources in order to heal completely. These are my rambling thoughts - I hope it helps. ~ Linda :-)