[JMK]

My 12 yr. old dog (f-husky mix), Hopi, began losing her fur, skin was elephant-like, and very itchy (smelly, too) about 3 years ago. I thought it was due to swimming in my pool (she has hip dysplasia, too). After over one year of my former vet saying it was allergies a retired fill-in vet took one look at her and correctly diagnosed her with hypothyroidism - her blood history had indicated a low thyroid, but she had never exhibited symptoms before.

For a year now she gets .8 mg soloxine 2/day and her T3 and T4 levels are in the "therapeutic range". The problem is she is still scratchy and smelly. My new vet says its allergies, too. I've been trying limited ingredient food (Blue salmon and potato), have removed things (grass and wool rug) from my home, and am vacuuming everyday. Benedryl has not really helped and several courses of prednisone seems to be the only thing that gives her relief. I keep shampooing her with special shampoos containing Ketoconazole and Chlorhexidine Gluconate - they help somewhat, but I've been doing it for months and still have the problem. Though every vet has said the pool (chlorine) should help, it seems to make it worse so now I'm keeping her out of the pool and I think it helps a little - she still scratches some and is smelly under her neck. Her fur still hasn't come back completely on her sides, but is 90% better than it was. It seems to be a year round problem though worsening at times.

The strange thing is, she never had an allergy problem until her hypothyroidism which went untreated for over a year. Could the itching be due to something else besides allergies?

I'm getting ready to try Atopica, but would like to be sure its an allergy before spending the $$$. Could she have some type of skin bacteria/fungus that took hold which would call for some other type of medication that's not topical? I hate keeping her on prednisone, though I'm down to about 5 mg once or twice a week - sometimes I will need to give her 10 mg. Or in lieu of benedryl, could trying another antihistamine (hydroxyzine) be a line of course?

I'm very disappointed in the vets here in AZ having had bad (some very bad) experiences with several of them with many of my pets. I'm still not sure about my new vet who is recommending the Atopica. Money, of course, is an issue, so I hate spending a lot on things that don't work (like Adequan).

I read other posts about allergies and hypothyroidism, but none that had a dog with both. I'm hoping for some suggestions - thanks!