Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog health - Ask members * If your pet is vomiting-bleeding-diarrhea etc. Vet time!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 9th, 2004, 08:51 AM
susanheb's Avatar
susanheb susanheb is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Posts: 22
skin infection under eye(shih tzu)

Hello,
I can't believe how helpful this board has been to me! I'm going to try again.
My shih tzu Frodo, 2yrs old, has what appears to be a swollen piece of skin just under his eye and adjacent to the top of his nose. It looks red but it's really hard to tell if there is pus or infection because of the hair! I thought I solved the problem last week when I carefully cleaned the area with alcohol and put polysporin on it a few times but after bathing him last night, I noticed it again.
There are two reasons I can think of:
1) Another shih tzu snapped at him, in the face, before I noticed any of this. It could be that he made contact and now the little tear is having problems healing, esp with the constantly drippy eyes.
2) Possibly what is known as a 'hot spot'? I don't know anything about 'hot spots' ...but I do want to know that I can help treat this and prevent it from getting worse.
Ps...I didn't even have to post here last time he got ill and lethargic...I went straight to the vet's. ;-) Therefore, you will surmise that I treat what I think is reasonable and take him to the vet for more serious things.
Thank you so much for anyone who can shed some light.
Susan
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old October 9th, 2004, 08:57 AM
susanheb's Avatar
susanheb susanheb is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Posts: 22
do not use alcohol for hot spot

Probably already obvious to all of you. sigh...I just read it. The thing is...what if it's an infection and not a hotspot?
Sue
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 9th, 2004, 12:34 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,287
The area must be shaved, so you can see what it is, clean it up and allow it to dry.

Is it oozing, itchy, painful? Has the lesion increased in size? Hot spots can grow very quickly and are intensely itchy and painful for the dog. I have no idea if hot spots are seen in this area, though.

If another dog bit him, it could be an abcess and infection, which would be dangerous in that area and need to be seen by the vet, for flushing and appropriate medication.

If he has had this lesion for over a week with no improvement, I really think he should see the vet.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 9th, 2004, 01:03 PM
susanheb's Avatar
susanheb susanheb is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Posts: 22
I would agree...

...except it seemed that it was better. I didn't see any evidence at all of infection or even redness after I 'treated' it a few times with the h.p. and polysporin. It seemed to have disappeared. Now it seems to be back. I went out and bought boric acid and am going to use that to gently clean the area and snip as much hair away as I possibly can. I'll get a better grasp then. It doesn't seem to be increasing in size and it's kind of hard to tell if it's itching him. He's not displaying any behavior to indicate this...as in rubbing his face on the ground etc.
I'm going to pay close attention and see if it goes down again after using the boric acid.
Sue
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:02 AM.