Hot Spots and the Vomit Search…

So, the dog learning curve increased dramatically for Lili and the last 2 days, let me explain: Yesterday evening Lili mentioned to me that Xavi had been giving himself a little more “affection” than usual. After laughing a little I took a look a Xavi and I realized that he was not “grooming” himself but rather biting himself right in front of his nether regions. Upon inspection I realized that an old foe had appeared, hot spots! I had dealt with them occasionally, mostly with a Golden Retriever, so I knew that I needed to clean, shave and maintain dry. In search for better answers I came to the blog and found, as expected, great advice.
So off I was to the store where I gathered Athlete’s Foot spray and Colloidal Silver. I decided to go with those two first. So I came home, cleaned the area (about 6” around and spreading by then!) with a mixture of vinegar and warm water. Once done I dryed him and shaved the area, even thought he’d already lost some hair there anyway. We also put a shirt (form fitting because he is trendy Lili said…) to help with the biting. We decided that if the applied remedies did not work by morning time we’d take him to the vet. And I left for work…
I got a call from Lili at work around 11 pm. She told me that she had given him 400 mg of Ibuprofen and that Xavi was still itching. I told her that I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Ibuprofen is not ok for dogs and she was off to google it. Sure enough, Lili called me within 5 minutes, barely able to talk from so much crying and told me that the Ibuprofen could create toxicity in a dog and she was dead worried about him. I suggested she call the after-hours vet who suggested as a first step that she give Xavi 1.5 tbsp of Hydrogen Peroxide. She put Xavi in the kennel, gave him the Peroxide and hung up.
Next call I got was Lili crying and throwing up herself as she was trying to look into Xavi’s vomit trying to find the Ibuprofen pills. She gave me play by play on what she was finding while she took tiny breaks to continue throwing up! But finally, success! Lili found the 2 Ibuprofen pills intact, not even the outer coating had eroded away.
Once that was done she gave Xavi some water and called it a night. Today, after finding that the hot sopts had spread a bit more overnight, Lili took him to the vet at 7:45am. The vet determined that Xavi does not have fleas and the reason for the hot spots is unknown. She prescribed 75-100 mgs of Benadryl, she also gave us PhytoVet CK shampoo to bathe him with, Betagen spray for the actual hotspots and prescribed an oatmeal bath. Xavi is still wearing the form fitting shirt, he is about to get his oatmeal (homemade) and has this sad look on his face. The joys and the pains of being parents…