dog with nasal chronic nasal congestion

[tockeyhockey]

i have a dog who is about 4 years old and he has had a series of health problems recently. over the summer, he had skin allergies and received a steroid shot and bendryl. his allergies "sort of" went away.

shortly after that, he hurt his paw on a long hike. he went on some anti-inflamatory drugs for a while and that did heal up, but it took about a month, even with reduced walks and no off the leash time.

as that was clearing up, he got small puss-filled sores on his side that would bleed and never really dried up. i shaved the hair around them and cleaned them out regularly with astringent and soap, but those never cleared up 100%.

then, over the last two months or so, he has been sneezing and has had very regular nasal and eye discharge. the mucus is greenish yellow and thick. he gets so clogged up some times that he has trouble breathing out of his nose at all. he also sneezes a lot, especially when we take him outside for a walk.

the Veterinarian put him on a few rounds of anti-biotics, but nothing worked. he has also been on another round of benadryl. that has done nothing.

about a month into the sneezing and snot episode, i switched his food to canidae, which supposedly has lower levels of common allergens. i have also begun putting in some water with his food, merrick's canned wet food, and occasionally yogurt (i had been told that the yogurt might help him bring his regular bacterial levels after going on so much antibiotics).

in a fit of desperation, i bought an herbal supplement called "sinu-rite" from some online store. that has done nothing.

i am now looking at a new product called "dinovite" in the hopes that it will clear up whatever is ailing him. i feel like i'm shopping for snake oil a bit, but at this point i cannot figure out what is wrong with my dog and i am clutching at straws.

oh, and by the way, every Veterinarian we've seen has offered up no advice. they have no idea what is wrong with him. all of his blood work comes back fine, and his x-rays were fine as well. he has never had a fever during any of this time.

anyway, if anyone out there can offer up some help -- either an idea for a cure, or even just nursing tips for helping to relieve the congestion in his nose and the dripping from his eyes, i would be very thankful.

[palehorse]

Originally Posted by tockeyhockey

i have a dog who is about 4 years old and he has had a series of health problems recently. over the summer, he had skin allergies and received a steroid shot and bendryl. his allergies "sort of" went away.

If he is prone to allergies, then he is likely allergic to "something". Do some detective work, think REAL HARD. What is NEW or DIFFERENT in his evironment? Think outside the box, don't just look for edible things, look at EVERYTHING. New bad? Play toy? new brand of treat? New pet? Cats? New plants near him? New rug? New blanket or bedding? Cover ALL the bases.

Originally Posted by tockeyhockey

shortly after that, he hurt his paw on a long hike. he went on some anti-inflamatory drugs for a while and that did heal up, but it took about a month, even with reduced walks and no off the leash time.
as that was clearing up, he got small puss-filled sores on his side that would bleed and never really dried up. i shaved the hair around them and cleaned them out regularly with astringent and soap, but those never cleared up 100%.

Use some neosporin (triple antibiotic ointment) you find it in the drug store.

Originally Posted by tockeyhockey

then, over the last two months or so, he has been sneezing and has had very regular nasal and eye discharge. the mucus is greenish yellow and thick. he gets so clogged up some times that he has trouble breathing out of his nose at all. he also sneezes a lot, especially when we take him outside for a walk.

This does sound like allergies to me. If the thing causing the allergic reaction is always present, it won't go away.

Originally Posted by tockeyhockey

about a month into the sneezing and snot episode, i switched his food to canidae, which supposedly has lower levels of common allergens. i have also begun putting in some water with his food, merrick's canned wet food, and occasionally yogurt (i had been told that the yogurt might help him bring his regular bacterial levels after going on so much antibiotics).

in a fit of desperation, i bought an herbal supplement called "sinu-rite" from some online store. that has done nothing.

i am now looking at a new product called "dinovite" in the hopes that it will clear up whatever is ailing him. i feel like i'm shopping for snake oil a bit, but at this point i cannot figure out what is wrong with my dog and i am clutching at straws.

I am not sure either. My best bet is there is something he is allergic to that is present with him always? New shampoo? New collar?

Sorry I cannot be of more help...

[tamarajp]

Hi,

I know it's been awhile since you posted your concern over your dogs nasal congestion...how is he doing now? The reason I ask is because my dog has the EXACT same symptoms now. He had pneumonia in late August that cleared up, but for the past three months has suffered from severe nasal congestion, yellow/green discharge, eye discharge, reverse sneezing and coughing. He's been on a slew of antibiotics. Nothing really seems to work. I too bought the Sinu-rite in desperation, but have yet to try it (he's currently on Baytril - another antibiotic). It's such a frustrating experience because the Veterinarian can not figure out the underlying cause. My boy River is acting normally, playing, eating, etc...no fever...but this chronic problem just won't clear up! THe next step is to do a rhinoscopy to culture what is in there...but I am hesitant to do this because of his age (11 years). It makes me nervous.

Anyway, would really like to see how your dog is doing now!

Thanks!

Tammy

[tinkonthebrink]

Just found this forum while looking for ideas regarding my 10 week old pup's nasal congestion, which just developed this weekend. I was already wondering if allergies were involved and will try benadryl today. She seems very healthy otherwise, no fever, no coughing, just a stuffy nose.
Just wanted to add to the thread that allergies develop over time, so anyone who is suspecting allergies needs to consider not just new things in the dogs environment but everything. However - if the benadryl has no effect at all then it isn't likely to be an allergic response.

[makenakimo]

Hi There- I am new to the forum but I googled this topic and this post came up. My dog started out with nasal congestion which progressed to bloody noses July 2007. She was of course immediately taken to the Veterinarian. They said possibly cancer or a burr up her nose. The Veterinarian did a bunch of tests one for them being the rhinoscopy and found nothing. He tested for fungal she came out negative. They took a biopsy up her nose and decided she is probably cancer free. So miraculously my dog gets a bit better and in a few more months the bloody noses start up again. I bring her back and the Veterinarian threatens cancer again and puts her under to dot he rhino again and take x-rays. Still nothing he can see. At this point I have spent oh about $3K but stupidly I decide thats not a good enough answer so I take her to a second highly recommended Veterinarian. He reviews all her old tests and finds nothing but meanwhile my dg has this huge abscess above her eye so we put her under to check her teeth for abscess and we drain this abscess on her head. He tells me he is shocked at what he found, lots of mucus draining with blood and he said it looked like a Sci Fi movie. As for the doggie, she had and still is running around with 4 staples in her head and a drain in the old abscess. We sent the gunk to a lab who was supposed to 'grow' it to tell us what it was. As of last week, nothing, it was just gunk. Basically antibiotics won't kill it and this stuff is just dripping out in huge quantities. I am not another $1K in the hole and its no money I even have. I think for my dog's sake we need to end this, not her life (NO NO NO) but the testing. She seems happy she just drains her sinuses often and they produce a large bump over her eye - antibiotics sometimes helps and sometimes don't. Why these vets have no answers is beyond me and I can't have my dog be a guinea pig anymore. She's 10 in May. If anyone has had these problems and have an answer - I'd love your insight!!

[deedee]

Our doxie started out with nasal congestion 1 year and 7 months ago.
He's been through every invasive test and has been on all antihistamines, decongestants and steroids imagineable.

All sinus infections and tumors have been ruled out multiple times.

He is constantly getting pnuemonia because of the dripping from his sinuses.
When they do the transtrachial washes to see what type of pneumonia it is, it comes back different kinds which call for different antibiotics.
However clearing up the pneumonia doesn't last long because they have no idea what's causing the congestion.

He's even on allergy injections.

This is obviously a study of animal medicine that is grossly overlooked, because I have been told by multiple vets that they don't know what it is, they don't know why it started.....but they say he will always have it.

Figure that one out!

[Dudley Doo's Mom]

My 12 year old Beagle is suffering from the same thing! Suddenly last September, a cough that wouldn't go away for 2 months. Now it has turned into a nasal infection with a greenish, white or clear discharge. Sometimes he can't breath so he opens his mouth ever 20 seconds. I freaked out the first time he did that, now I have genomycin, an antibiotic eye drop from my Veterinarian that I put in his nose 3 times a day. It seems to help for awhile. Also, they suspected that an ear infection, which I have always fought with his big floppy ears, may have ruptured his ear drum and may be causing the mucous infection in his inner ear and nose. So he gets Baytrill in his ears. He is also on Clavamox. I just finished a couple of thousand dollars worth of testing at 3 vets, finally I found one that is really determined to figure it out without robbing me blind. She thought it was fungas but so far the tests keep coming back negative. Tomorrow the final test culture comes in for Asperillosis (sp?) and after that we'll be scratching our heads too. We've done the allergy testing, he gets an allergenic super healthy diet. Help!

[deedee]

They tried our dog out on itraconazole for that, too, though it was never proven that he had aspergillosis. On or off the treatment there was no change. From what I understand it's 50% effective orally. Their preferred method, if positive of diagnosis, is direct application under a long period of sedation.
It's a tough one to definately diagnose, but can be damaging if untreated.
Hope all goes well.

[cori]

Hi
This may seem waaay off....but I posted last week about my dog who had frequesnt urinary track infections. I received a reply which led me to a link with an article about too much grain in a dog's diet and how that effects some animals negatively. My dog was also on Canidae dry dog food. The Veterinarian switched her in hopes that it would help with the magnesium level which he thinks is causing the crystals in her bladder.
Upon exchanging more emails with PawsitivePet I learned that Canidae has high grain content and that wet is better than dry.
She suggested Evo dog food (we've mixed the dry and canned) and some sardine oil with vitamin E
..among other things for her bladder which we have since put her on.
Ok...making a long story short...our dog also had the LOUDEST breathing I have EVER heard. We would all swear someone was snoring in the next room...and it was HER. She seemed congested a lot...and had several instances of hot spots, skin irritation etc. Also pointing to allergies of some sort
Since she has been on this new food regiment for the past week....her breathing seems to be quiet again!!
Maybe it's coincidence.....but.....
I think she must have had some grain allergies...and putting her on a grain free diet seems to be helping.
You may want to try that.
Here is the link to the article I was pointed to.
Food Related Urinary Issues
Hope that helps!

[cfeingold]

Originally Posted by tockeyhockey

i have a dog who is about 4 years old and he has had a series of health problems recently. over the summer, he had skin allergies and received a steroid shot and bendryl. his allergies "sort of" went away.

shortly after that, he hurt his paw on a long hike. he went on some anti-inflamatory drugs for a while and that did heal up, but it took about a month, even with reduced walks and no off the leash time.

as that was clearing up, he got small puss-filled sores on his side that would bleed and never really dried up. i shaved the hair around them and cleaned them out regularly with astringent and soap, but those never cleared up 100%.

then, over the last two months or so, he has been sneezing and has had very regular nasal and eye discharge. the mucus is greenish yellow and thick. he gets so clogged up some times that he has trouble breathing out of his nose at all. he also sneezes a lot, especially when we take him outside for a walk.

the Veterinarian put him on a few rounds of anti-biotics, but nothing worked. he has also been on another round of benadryl. that has done nothing.

about a month into the sneezing and snot episode, i switched his food to canidae, which supposedly has lower levels of common allergens. i have also begun putting in some water with his food, merrick's canned wet food, and occasionally yogurt (i had been told that the yogurt might help him bring his regular bacterial levels after going on so much antibiotics).

in a fit of desperation, i bought an herbal supplement called "sinu-rite" from some online store. that has done nothing.

i am now looking at a new product called "dinovite" in the hopes that it will clear up whatever is ailing him. i feel like i'm shopping for snake oil a bit, but at this point i cannot figure out what is wrong with my dog and i am clutching at straws.

oh, and by the way, every Veterinarian we've seen has offered up no advice. they have no idea what is wrong with him. all of his blood work comes back fine, and his x-rays were fine as well. he has never had a fever during any of this time.

anyway, if anyone out there can offer up some help -- either an idea for a cure, or even just nursing tips for helping to relieve the congestion in his nose and the dripping from his eyes, i would be very thankful.

Hi Tockeyhockey,
I was so relieved to read your post. I am just relieved that I finally found someone that is having the exact same issue as I am. I have a 6 yr old Englishbulldog/mastiff mix and since October, he has been battling this stupid cogestion. It started with just a stuffed nose, nothing serious sounding. Benedryl or chlrophoramine and $500 worth of clavamox did absolutely nothing. I have done rhinoscopies which found tons of mucus, so they sent it to the lab and it came back with 2 types of bacteria, so hence the previous clavamox. So a month later, went back to the dumb vets, they took xrays which showed nothing. They suggested I change his food, did nothing. I eventually changed vets. I went more holistic this time. She gave me some antibiotics that cleared up his mucus..great! But he still can not breath through his nose. He still eats, plays, walks chews his bones, no fever ever either. My new Veterinarian mentioned Nasal Mites. So I am on this 2 week liquid to see if that is it. The next step is to go to the specialist so they can put him under twice and do another rhinoscopy and they do a biopsy on the actual nasal tissue to get to the root of it all. It is very expensive to try to figure out what this is. I wish everybody good health and I will let you know what happens. But the longer we wait for the vets to figure out what the heck is going on, something bad can be brewing inside our dogs....