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Why are my dog's hot spots worse after using special shampoo?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 1 month old | 70 lbs

My dog looks like she has hotspots. I tried bathing her in shampoo that specializes in hotspots, but it looks like it is getting worse. What should I do?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 31st, 2018

A lot of skin conditions can look like hot spots, bacterial skin infection, ringworm, even mite infections, and allergies, flea bites and other itchy lesions. each on of these is treated with a different medication or avoidance of allergens, etc. Therefore it is very important to have a correct diagnosis, ie know what is causing the hot spot so the proper treatment can be initiated. I strongly recommend you schedule an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam of the hot spots. Your vet may want to do a skin scraping or a take a swab or brush sample to help determine the cause and then specifically address the problem.

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on January 3rd, 2017

    Poor pup! It does sound like she's very uncomfortable. In my experience, unless they are very mild, hot spots virtually always require prescription antibiotics and a short-term steroid or other anti-inflammatory medication to treat effectively - topical shampoos and ointments are not enough to fix the problem. Because of this, I would really recommend taking her to the vet for an exam as soon as you can - he/she can prescribe appropriate medication to get rid of the hot spots, and can also talk to you about possible underlying allergies or other problems that may be causing them.

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    Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 16th, 2018

    I am sorry to hear about Leia! These are often most easily treated by your vet because we do usually recommend clipping the fur around the area to allow it to be properly cleaned with an antibacterial shampoo such as Duoxo Chlorhexidine, and then use a topical spray such as Gentocin spray or something like this https://www.zymox.com/zymox-topical-spray-hot-spots-skin-infections in milder cases. In some instances this can be very painful which is why the help of your vet may be needed. If severely itchy or painful we sometimes need oral medications. You can read more about hot spots at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952981

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