Spot On

Dogger is annoyed with me. I keep messing with the spot on her hip and she wishes I would leave it.

 Three or more time a day :A little scrub-scrub to displace the scab, a little spray stuff to keep the area damp and soft and anti-bacterial ( home made, 1 part  original Listerine, 1 part baby oil and 1 part water, works wonders with hot spots), followed up with a lump of  real, name brand Neosporin to keep it from becoming infected  (store brand "compare to Neosporin" doesn't work) and finally a shot of bitter apple spray to keep her from licking it.

 I have to admit, after just three days of constant vigilance, it looks much better than it did over the weekend although I do now understand why the vets office was always so fast to shave her spots before. It turns out it wasn't some sort of weird veterinary dominance exercise like I had imagined, it really does help with maintenance issues.

What she really needs is a good, through bath, with hot water and soap and scrub brushes. But I don't want to, a bath for her is tantamount to a bath for me and I washed my hair last night, I would rather pester her with bitter apple for at least a few days. I am a bad dog mama.

I am doing all this or not doing all this, so that I can avoid an expensive trip to the vet. Dogger suffers hot spots from the first day it goes above freezing until the the first day it does not. Her puppy-hood was  a haze of medicated doggy shampoos, frequent baths, expensive creams and endless antibiotics. The Addison's was the culprit it turns out but even now with it under control, she still has the odd spot and if I don't want to spend more time in a medicated haze of dog shampoo and Eu De Waiting Room it is important I stay on top of her spots - which I do to varying degrees of success.

The vet is on my mind for something other than Doggers spots. Her script for pain meds is running out and I want to keep her on them for a little longer.  I took her off briefly last month and she was clearly suffering pain and I won't have that -  but at the same time,  I don't want her on them forever because I don't want her developing a habit. Other dogs are trained  as drug sniffers while my dog will be a drug seeker

I try to keep thoughs like this on the back burner. The vet didn't seem to have any issues with keeping Dogger medicated for several months all ready he might not have a problem keeping her medicated for several more.