I thought I'd post this in the hope someone has had some experience of it or perhaps something similiar. My neighbour has a 9 year old spayed collie cross. She was dumped at his gate at approx 6 weeks old in very poor condition and he has worshipped her ever since. However for the past year, she has developed a terrible skin condition mainly on her back and sides. It flares up, terrible itch, hair loss and her coat goes very dull. She has very little hair on her back now. He has had her at 3 different vets. Bloods came back normal. Skin biopsy just came back as inflammation. So each vet has messed around with antibiotics or steroids but no improvement. He has changed her diet to a good quality dry food. I had some malseb shampoo which seemed to ease it for her for 2 months. But today she's really bad again. He is very upset and I dont really know what to advise.

Has your neighbour had her blood tested for outdoor and indoor allergens Kate?

If they have checked her skin for mites etc, she might be allergic to something in the garden like grasses or pollen, or something in the food like storage mites or wheat etc.

We had a dog that developed a similar skin condition as described.Our vet prescribed a long term antibiotic for a month, I supplemented it with bionic biotic and the condition  has now cleared up. Hope this helps.

Sounds like allergy or mange. Could you get a cheap microscope and a skin scraping?

Well its not contagious whatever it is as his other dog has no sign of it. I do think its an allergy but as to what, I haven't a clue. The vet who did the blood tests did say she was allergic to something but couldn't say what. He has changed foods, kept her away from carpets, but it just keeps flaring up. It doesn't get worse or better with changing seasons. It is borderline the end of the road for her as her quality of life is really dramatically getting worse

> He has changed foods

Has he tried an exclusion diet?

Have seen similar and it was caused by a flea allergy, red skin, itching, hair loss (all the undercoat dropped out and only left a few guard hairs but very sparse) on back and sides.   Just might be worth trying a spot on treatment and treating sleeping area etc.

my daughters collie cross is a very itchy dog,despite baths and flea treatments,and ended up bald onher back and hind legs.Id heard about hibiscrub(chemist,7 99)put about half an inch in an empty spray bottle,filled it up with water.,and told her to spray it on and rub it in,twice a day.Within two weeks the fur started growing back,and its all back now.To say im pleased with myself is an understatement.!!Worth a try?Cant hurt!!

thyroid problems, need to do both the tests to exclude this can't think what they are, is it T4 and I can't think of the other one at the moment.

Thanks for all the replies. She has been treated for fleas etc many times but it hasn't helped. I spoke to her owner today and he said he will try the exclusion diet. Its worth a shot. I'll keep you posted.

There is a good shampoo similar to Malaseb called 'Seleen shampoo' I have used Malaseb for years and recently heard about this other shampoo used it and found a great improvement in my old girl who's skin isnt great. More so than the Malaseb, the good thing about this Seleen shampoo is you dont have to get it on prescription from your vet you can buy it online from the hyperdrug/canine chemist website.