I’m looking for the most unbelievably bitter, wretched, nasty salve I can put on our dog that will ACTUALLY keep her off a hot spot.
The hot spot in question is not really a hot spot at all, it’s just a scar. It healed long ago. The dog has just got it in her head that it needs chewin’ on.
Bitter apple is a joke, she puts it on her milk bones as a condiment.
We have worn out a Bite not collar and would like to gain a sense of normalcy, now. This has gone on too long.
Somebody help me, this otherwise happy healthy dog just can’t stop obsessing about that scar. It’s the only thing she’s like that about.
I had the same problem with my cat. I got her spayed and declawed. She started licking at the scar on her tummy; when I’d get that fixed, she would lick her paws. I’m talking NASTY sores. Huge flaring sores. To the point that people told me to put her to sleep.
After LOTS of money spent ($4000+ over the years) at ALL KINDS of vets (and specialists), and new remedies (including special non-allergy food), they can’t figure out why she does this. But it’s definitely not psychological, because there is a cure for the symptom!
In the end, all that worked was Cortisone. At first, in the form of sub-cutaneous (under the skin) cortisone shots (about once a month). Now she’s taking 4mg of Dexasone (for a 12 lb cat), daily. However, to calm down the flare ups, the initial dose was twice a day for a week.
I used to almost feel angry at my cat because she would prop herself up against the wall to get a better angle to lick. She looked like a heroine addict getting her last lick in before I could get to her. Good luck with that, it’s hard to see and hard to go through. But I really hope you try the cortisone.
Have you talked to your vet? My dog had a spot on his knee where he’d rubbed it raw from chewing on it. One trip to the vet and a cortisone shot fixed it.
It may be anxiety causing your dog to do this. Talk to your vet.
My grandmother’s dog started doing this. The vet recommened intense excersize to “wear him out,” coupled with lots of attention.
You could also try putting jalepeno pepper juice on the spot if there isn’t an open wound. That certainly will discourage a dog!
Give your dog one or two of these.
The Gummabones are softer than the Nylabones.
Try distracting your dog in a positive way when you catch her at it.
Don’t shout “NO!”, but start playing with her or scratch her ears or brush her.
It sounds silly (and maybe it is), but there have been recent success stories of pets with compulsive behavior being treated with Prozac. Talk to your vet.
Done cortizone, done prozac-like drugs.
My dog has 4 acres to root around on and another dog to wear out. I’m pretty sure it’s psycological .
I just want to stop her, I’m not too concerned what causes it at this point.
Hot sauce hot enough to stop her would burn her skin. I’m talkin’ pure capsaicin, here.
Think astringant…
Mr. Armadillo had a cat who used to chew electrical cords. They tried Bitter Apple, then Tobasco sauce, pure chili powder, all kinds of things. The cat just very gingerly licked around it until the majority of the bad taste was gone, then chewed his little heart out.
A bad flavor might deter her, but she’s still going to want to lick and chew. Lick granulomas are often purely psychological and can not be stopped with any kind of deterrant such as bad flavored topicals, only by going to the root of the problem–boredom or lonliness–thus, to repeat Lissa’s advice, tons of exercise and stimulation, coupled with a lot of personal attention. She may have tons of space to run around on, and another dog for company, but have you ever met a ten year old who has the whole neighborhood at their disposal during the summer, and still comes in to whine “I’m bored!”? You’ll probably need to spend quite a lot of time actively playing with your dog(s), and devoting a lot of attention to them. That’ll probably solve the problem far better than any hot sauce.
Regardless of the space and number of dogs for her to play with, she still needs some stimulation and interaction from her owner.
Our dog is doing the same thing with a spot on her paw. We took her to the vet, who gave us an ointment to put on the spot to make it heal, and we put one of those cones around her neck when she isn’t eating, going for a walk, or outside. She still licks the cone, though. There isn’t much she likes to do in the way of play - the other (younger) dog will chase a thrown toy, but Titania (the dog that licks) just stands around and barks at him.