Tony, Connie & Cody Buffa  San Luis Obispo, CA

Hello Noreen,

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A few months back I asked you about some scratching/nibbling issues with our B/S schnauzer, Cody, whom we got from you back in July 2009.  Since then we discovered A FLEA, just one ... and apparently that was it.  The vet's theory is that it created a lot of bites and Cody was nibbling and chewing on those when they itched. He switched us from the topical Frontline medication to an oral (once per month) flea medication called Comfortis.  Comfortis says it works almost immediately and wow did it.  In a day or so the symptoms were almost gone and since mid July he has been fairly normal, with the usual male dog scratching.

So then the issue was where did the fleas come from since the house and backyard are small enough to keep flea-free. As it turns out, the folks who sit him while we are gone take him to their house and they have a large fluffy white dog, with fleas!  We just returned from a trip, and sure enough, he was scratching.  We picked a couple of the fleas off him, gave him his Comfortis for the month, and he was back to normal in 3 days.

Thought you would like to know that it wasn't all the other bad things like food allergies, or just plain dry skin or genetic things.

Hope all is well, have a good rest of the summer. I am attaching a recent photo of the boy who is Mr. Personality in our local park.