I am a new member hoping for some advice or even a different direction to peruse.

I own a number of shelties and for the last 2mths they have been scratching.  I have taken them to the vet and had tape slides and skin scrapings done and nothing can be seen.  The scratching is limited to the head, tummy and legs. 

Every dog is affected and they range from 3mths to 15 years with no previous problems.  Also my 3 cats are also scratching mainly around the head. 

There are no sores or hair loss and I have not been bitten.  Through a process of elimination the vet has decided to treat for sarcoptic mites but said  really the scratching is not intense enough.  I have done 4 treatments  using revolution and I also dipped the puppies using lime sulphur 3 times as well as they were the worst affected.  The older dogs have improved about 90% but the younger ones are only about 60% better and still scratching quite a lot. 

I also used Advantage on 2 of the older dogs in case it was biting lice with no effect.  I have bug bombed the house and all bedding has been washed.  Previously when it first started I used Frontline Plus with no change at all and Advocate with slight improvement.

I was expecting more improvement than this and am concerned that the diagnoses is wrong.  What else could it be as my vet isn't offering any other advice

Has your vet mentioned allergies?

Have you looked for a contact irritant that may have been introduced to the house or garden at around the time it started?

I don't think it is allergies as every dog in my house is affected (10 of them) and I have never had any issues before with them.

What sort of contact irritant would cause scratching solely in the head, tummy and legs?  Feet seem to be ok, it is only the short haired areas that they are scratching.

The classic ones are new washing powder, carpet treatment, floor cleaners, fabric treatments (Scotchguard is renowned for causing reactions in people and dogs)

Others might include anything new that you are using: perfume, deodorant, soap, shampoo

Christmas trees cause problems for some dogs and you could look at 'winter hayfever' causes: plants, pollens and spores - willow is one of these apparently.

Finally you might want to see whether your farmers, local council etc have been using something new: for spraying crops, weedkillers, paint removers, street cleaning

You'd generally spot reactions in short haired areas and round ears and eyes.  Paws aren't always affected. 

* Have you, or your manufacturer, changed food?

Some of the spot on are not working as well as they used to try changing that.

I do not know if you are in the UK but we have a mite called Cheyletiella (Walking Dandruff) that can cause the problems you have although I would have thought the treatment you are using would have helped or cured the problem. There is also lice that can effect some dogs where other although infected do not have problems.

Hi, I had a rescue dog quite a number of years ago which caught sarcoptic mange and he had it everywhere......to the point where most of his hair fell out. I won't go into details of how it got that far but I will say it wasn't for the want of trying on my part and there's a local vet who's doors I would'nt step through to this day!
It was the most painful irritant for him,, he scratched until he bled and if your shelties only have it in certain places I'm not sure I would say that's what they have. Besides mange are mites and as such I would have thought shown up in the tape test.

Have you thought of a second vet opinion?

flash floor cleaner is known for causing bad allergic reactions. have you changed what you washt eh dog bedding in.? I have also heard of leather sofas..causing problems....!

I have been thinking about the possibly it may be an allergic or contact reaction and I don't think it is because I boarded  a dog here over Xmas and he also got this and even after being home for a mth is still scratching.  Surely any reaction would have cleared up in that time?   

>I boarded  a dog here over Xmas and he also got this and even after being home for a mth is still scratching

If contact with an irritant isn't being sustained, it does seem as though it might be a contagious condition.  Has your boarder visited the vet?  What diagnosis/treatment has he received?

He has had 4 fortnightly treatments of revolution.  He is a lot better but still scratching a little bit.

We are currently still doing the revolution every 10 days and spraying with permoxin as required.  It did improve to begin with but really I haven't seen any improvement in the last 2 treatments