Skin Problems

Question
We have a four year old blue merle sheltie with major skin problems.  He itches constantly, which causes hair loss and redness.  He smells terrible, even after a bath.  We have tried aloe and oatmeal baths to no avail.  We changed his food to Science Diet.  This morning we noticed two lesions, which he was biting at.  We brought him to the vet, and they stated he likely has allergy issues and suggested a $300/month treatment.  Any suggestions not costing $300/month?

Answer
Melissa,

You are doing the right things-food, shampoo and vet.  Did they take a skin scrape for testing of mange?  I'm most definitely not a veternarian and cannot second guess the man on the spot doing physical exams.  

IF it is an allergy, there are otc remedies that you can try like benadryl- get the vet to work with you on this.  

I'm always convinced when people come to me with these types of questions that the just need permission to go get a second opinion from a vet.  By all means do that!

Dave