Hey Kaz,
if you get no joy from the vets around here (and I'd recommend heading straight to Narre Nth's WoofPurNay!!), then there's always Carol Freeman in Narre Nth (around the corner from WPN off Heatherton Rd), who is an animal naturopath type. If you want to hear about her success rate, the lady at Belgrave Pet Supplies (in Tecoma...guess it was too hard to change her name when she moved!), can tell you about Carol's work on her Old English Sheepdogs (she breeds and shows), even though she's a self-confessed sceptic (former physics lecturer, amongst other things) and can't figure out how she does it using her 'hocus pocus'! She also has Carol's business card.
My own anecdote is with my big dog. This time last year he looked absolutely rotten - open sores that had holes underneath them (press them for blood to come bubbling out sort of thing), bare patches all over him his formerly beautiful short Shepherd coat (he's a Dane x Alsatian x) and was visibly miserable and STINKY! Round after round after round of bigger and bigger doses of cortisone and we gave up. Even the fantastic vets at Narre Nth said they couldn't figure it out that he wasn't responding to the demodectic mange treatment, not even a bit. And they didn't object at all when we mentioned a naturopath - they said sometimes Carol fixes what they just can't scientifically figure out.
Well, weren't they impressed when we took him back for immunisations and he was his former beautiful but MUCH visibly happier self!
Carol worked on various fronts to get the physical aspect right. Whatever she did, and sent me home with (ALL for $50, including the follow up session!) just started to work within a fortnight.
Food for thought
I hope it stops, it's so distressing to see a pet tear themselves apart, literally