Persistent skin condition

My dogs have been suffering from a skin condition for months now. They are itchy, dry, flakey, and their fur is patchy. We've have 12 skin scrapings done, allergy tests on all of them, thyroid and other bloodtests. They were first put on aloquil (before the allergy tests and no results) then the vet prescribed them to medicated baths. First a chlorhexidine shampoo then Dermabenz when the first didn't work. One has also been on antibiotics because her skin got so bad it was infected. They've also been on a prescription kibble with no results.  We've bought multiple humidifiers to try and ease the driness. They are all on regular parasite preventative and the same flea meds they used before this started and we haven't seen a single flea nor flea dirt. No indication of mites as per the vets tests. Recently had our water tested and it turns out its very acidic (below 4.0). We are going to try other vets but with nothing turning up yet is it possible that the pH of our water could be the culprit and is there a specific proceedure I can request to have this tested?

Hello!  With skin cases, tedious as it is, the vast majority come down to the basics.  I appreciate that you are using the flea treatment you have always used, but you don't tell me what it is.  Is it the one that your vet recommends is used to kill every last flea and is it still of the appropriate dose for your dog, and are you still cleaning all of the pets in your house?  70% of itchy dogs are cured when this is sorted.   I will come back to the other 30% in a minute....

Sorry, let me rewrite that more clearly.   Are you using the flea treatment recommended by your vet for the correct patient and are you treating all of the pets in the house?  This is step one and needs to be followed for at least three months;  it is a very basic step but cannot be avoided, as it will solve 70% of such cases.

I wonder what it is about the presentation that led your vet to check for mites twelve times, and also what sort of mite they have been testing for and how?  I feel that there may be something that I am missing here.  To my knowledge, a low water pH doesn't usually affect dogs' skin (is it affecting your own?) but then I wondered what the dogs were doing with the water?  As in, drinking, or bathing in it?  I wouldn't expect drinking water pH to be an issue but regular bathing at home can be; it can contribute to the drying out of the skin, especially in cases where allergy is already present, thus exacerbating it.  We don't normally advise this unless the pet gets particularly dirty, or if a bath is used to medicate the skin (often antibiotics and antiyeasts are now given this way).  Then I realised that I do not know the breed of your dog; is the breed associated with hereditary predisposition to allergy, for example?

I think it is important to understand that most skin diseases are allergies (sometimes to other dogs' fleas!) And that all allergies are chronic conditions ie they don't go away, but stay with the dog for the long haul.  I think that a lot of clients arrive with an itchy dog expecting the case to be solved with a course of tablets, but skin medicine is often about finding the correct combination of long-term treatments to keep the illness stable, much like diabetes or arthritis.   Some times of year can be trickier than others.  If your first opinion vet isn't making as much impact as you like, rather than going to another first opinion vet and repeating everything, it may be worth asking to be referred to a specialist dermatologist or w first opinion vet with a special interest is the skin.  I hope that something here helps; all the best to you and your itchy pet.

Flea treatment is the soresto collar obtained directly from the vet and all 4 dogs have the correct size/dosage. Our cats as well but they have not a single problem at all and 2 of them snuggle the dogs. We have been working on this issue since last winter with my bloodhound (2yo) since around July with my heeler mix (1yo), and it just started with the 13yo and 15 yo dogs (both unknown mixes) this fall. The cats are not affected at all. The 12 skin scrapings were divided amongst all the dogs so it wasn't all preformed on one but mostly on the bloodhound who we've been working on this with the most/longest. He mostly did so many at my request to eliminate my paranoia that they may have something transferable. They were drinking the water, playing in it in a kiddie pool half the year (less so for the seniors), and when prescribed by the vet, bathed in it. My bloodhound's first bath at my house was pretty much as soon as she arrived last winter because she messed herself in the crate on the way home from picking her up. I have a hard time believing that it would be allergies for all 4 dogs considering the old ones never had problems and they've been on the same diet for years before this occured. My suspicions about the water are mostly because the cats mostly drink from a rainwater barrel and typically ignore their water bowls so they aren't exposed like the dogs. I tested the rain water too and the pH is higher than our well water. And they don't swim or bathe in it. As for us humans, the only one having a skin issue is my boyfriend as of a few weeks ago when he started showering twice daily because he gets much dirtier at work in the winter and he was away last year working in Alaska so he wasn't here showering twice daily last winter/the messy season. My kids and I take less and far shorter showers. My boyfriend sleeps in the office because he snores and the dogs sleep with me, and I'm the one who also brushes them, inspects them, trains them, plays with them, feeds them, snuggles them all day while I work from home, so if it was something transferable, I assume I would be the one affected and I'm just fine. Also I think worth mentioning is that we had a mold test done on our house to make sure it wasn't a reaction to mold. The average pH of human skin is lower and is also thicker than dogs so it can withstand exposure better than a dog's skin so it just seemed to make sense at this point that I've been unknowingly causing my dogs harm by giving them this water to drink, play, and bath in. I do think I'm going to have to make the long trek to the nearest dermatologist at this point.

How interesting.  We would love to hear if you get to the bottom of this one.  Best of luck - it must be hard going at the moment!