My very old Newfie was sneezing a lot. So we took him to the vet, and vet said it was probably just a sinus infection, so he prescribed antibiotics. We have done the full course of antibiotics, and dog is still sneezing. We will call vet about getting a better look up the nose, but meanwhile, and suggestions? Otherwise the dog is doing great. Weight is up, skin condition has been remedied, and ear problems are gone. He’s very happy, but still sneezing. Thanks! And yes, we’ve had some strange vet adventures this year.
Absolutely dogs can get things stuck up their nose - why not? A stick could easily go up the nose as the dog sniffs at it. All that has to happen is the stick breaks.
I just don’t understand vets who don’t investigate fully when a patient presents with a problem. Assuming it is just a sinus infection without actually eliminating other possible causes just doesn’t seem right. And now that the antibiotics that he threw at the problem haven’t seemed to resolve it what is he going to do. Try a different pill?
I think I’d be looking for a second opinion at another vet practice (as well as maybe a new primary vet). If it is piece of a stick, that can’t be very comfortable for the poor dog. Plus, now that the antibiotics are done, what if it gets infected? The antibiotics may have just kept any infection at bay.
Poor pup - I love Newfies! Jingles that this gets resolved for him soon.
Yes, absolutely things can get stuck in the nose. One of the main culprits here are foxtails, nasty weeds. Go back to the vet and ask them to look up your dogs nose, they need to be thorough.
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My sister’s cat had a micro-stick up her nose. She had sneezing and one periodically goopy eye for months. It’d go away while on meds, then come back as soon as she was done with them. Finally a head X-ray (or MRI? Can’t remember) showed something stuck way up in her nasal passage. Got it removed and she was fine afterwards.
Short answer: Yes, it can happen.
Yes, they can. Years ago, I had a Norwich Terrier who started to sneeze violently and actually hit his nose on the floor at the end of each sneeze (the breed has short legs). I took him to the vet after the second day. Lo and behold, the vet found the end of something greeny/brown. He started to gently pull and what came out was the longest, gooeyest, slimyest blade of grass imaginable. No more sneezing. Job done. End of story.
OP, have your vet investigate your dog’s nose a bit more carefully and thoroughly.
Good luck.
Definitely! This is a photo our vets posted on facebook not too long ago, poor dog! https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/431271_10151053477349506_1616810216_n.jpg
[QUOTE=saje;6678949]
My sister’s cat had a micro-stick up her nose. She had sneezing and one periodically goopy eye for months. It’d go away while on meds, then come back as soon as she was done with them. Finally a head X-ray (or MRI? Can’t remember) showed something stuck way up in her nasal passage. Got it removed and she was fine afterwards.
Short answer: Yes, it can happen.[/QUOTE]
This sounds EXACTLY like our female cat. The put her on steroids, she clears up, then less than a week later it’s goop city again.
You would be suprised how many dogs I CT each week for “something up their nose”. Most of the time when there is bleeding or gross nasal discharge there is something nasty up there (like a tumor), often the sneezy guys with occasional goop have some sort of foreign body. Strangest thing we found was a fish- yes a fish, that had been up an old dogs nose for at least 6 months!
Ummm, thanks. Guess I know what next week’s vet visit will be for. My vet is very good about starting with the least cost option, and then looking further if warranted, and in this case, it looks like it is. Dog does not have any goopy discharge, no bleeding, not even the occasional goop. I tried to look up the nose with a flashlight, but no luck. Also tried a gentle nose and snout massage, and he has has not sneezed much after I did that this afternoon. I’m going to do the snout massage again tomorrow, and then write down the time whenever he sneezes. That would help me get a handle on how frequently he is sneezing. I didn’t want to do any Black Friday shopping anyhow.
We have foxtails here, too. One of dogs managed to get one stuck in her nose last fall & right now she’s wearing a cone from having to have one removed from her eye. Nasty things.
We had a dog come into the shelter where I worked with a wicked sneeze. We kept him quarantined, started ABs, etc. After two weeks it never even started getting better so we took him to the vet. They eventually sedated him and pulled several portions of broken stick from his nose. He was better in two days.
[QUOTE=Claddagh;6678911]
I just don’t understand vets who don’t investigate fully when a patient presents with a problem. Assuming it is just a sinus infection without actually eliminating other possible causes just doesn’t seem right. And now that the antibiotics that he threw at the problem haven’t seemed to resolve it what is he going to do. Try a different pill?
I think I’d be looking for a second opinion at another vet practice (as well as maybe a new primary vet). [/QUOTE]
Oh, this is so ignorant it makes my ears steam!!! You gotta remember - common things happen commonly. Sinus infection is more common than intranasal foreign body. Thus, treat for sinus infection first (and really I’d suspect a mild resp. virus before sinus infection, but I digress…). Additionally, vets can ONLY test and treat for what the client wants to pay for. If dog comes in sneezing, and client declines endoscopy to check for foreign body (which isn’t really indicated at that point anyway), you’re not gonna find something in the nose!!
We are super happy to check out any and every possibility if client wants to throw those diagnostic dollars our way, but we are people too, and understand that 99% of people are financially limited, and thus typically choose the most common scenario and cheapest effective treatment and go with that. If that doesn’t work, dog needs to come back in to have problem explored further.
Grr!
[QUOTE=Lauren12;6688367]
Oh, this is so ignorant it makes my ears steam!!! You gotta remember - common things happen commonly. Sinus infection is more common than intranasal foreign body. Thus, treat for sinus infection first (and really I’d suspect a mild resp. virus before sinus infection, but I digress…). Additionally, vets can ONLY test and treat for what the client wants to pay for. If dog comes in sneezing, and client declines endoscopy to check for foreign body (which isn’t really indicated at that point anyway), you’re not gonna find something in the nose!!
We are super happy to check out any and every possibility if client wants to throw those diagnostic dollars our way, but we are people too, and understand that 99% of people are financially limited, and thus typically choose the most common scenario and cheapest effective treatment and go with that. If that doesn’t work, dog needs to come back in to have problem explored further.
Grr![/QUOTE]
BRILLIANT - Just BRILLIANT!!! And yeah, your opinion on course of treatment make MY ears stream! Maybe we should have an “ear streaming” party!
So if you were a vet you’d just start treating a patient with antibiotics? - what? Just any old antibiotics? You don’t even mention that you would have a blood panel done to idenitfy the causitive bacteria/virus that you assume is the problem in this case - so how would you know WHAT antibiotic might be appropriate in the patient’s case? Or do you just keep making your client buy different antibiotics when the one’s you’ve thrown at them willy-nilly don’t work?
Makes me think you’re lining your pockets rather than the other way around (as you stated above when you pointed out that “99% of people are financially limited, and thus typically choose the most common scenario and cheapest effective treatment and go with that.” Who wants to keep buying drugs to treat a problem of unknown origin, that may or may not even work or be appropriate? Not to mention that you may be causing unneccessary discomfort, pain, or worst-case-scenario, a worsening of a condition that could (and should have been taken care of initially with the proper diagnosis/testing).
Oh wait, you did say that “If that doesn’t work, dog needs to come back in to have problem explored further.” (more cha-ching, cha-ching!) Now your client has spent money on drugs and then needs to come back for more visits because there was no real diagnosis the first time (or maybe the second and third too). Again, cha-ching, cha-ching.
I personally would MUCH rather have a vet who gets it right the first time, i.e. examines the patient and runs initial lab tests to confirm exactly what he/she is dealing with and then treats appropriately - THE FIRST TIME! If it’s an infection then treat it with the appropriate medications but if it is not an infection, don’t pump drugs into the animal that won’t do a blasted thing to solve the problem just because drugs are cheaper than a workup and accurate diagnosis!
Sorry that this sounds like a foreign language to you and that you don’t agree. But I would rather not waste my money on a vet who says “oh, just buy this drug and try it, if it doesn’t work come back and we’ll sell you another, and another. Maybe we’ll solve this problem and maybe we won’t - because we really have no conclusive evidence of what the exact problem is - because we didn’t bother to investigate!” THAT is just not my idea of a vet that I would want for my animals! And hopefully not too many other people would either!
I agree with the guy that said he doesn’t understand why a vet doesn’t fully investigate, at least in the direction the patients owner said they think it is… I just brought my dog to the vet and told them I thought it was something stuck up my dogs nose. They didn’t ever even look up his nose. Because I know my dog a little better than they do, they should at least consider that I could be right. Instead, just because it’s allergyy season they made a quick 45. and diagnosed him with allergies, meanwhile my dog is still suffering from something else. I gave them real money, I don’t know why I can’t get real help?
Yes, I’ve had a foster dog go through the exact same thing. Id forgotten about it until you described the blade of grass, yes that brought back some memories!
Sneezing was a sign of Hemangiosarcoma in our sweet GSD. We thought she had something up her nose, the endoscoping was scheduled, but our girl didn’t make it that long. She collapsed and x rays revealed the cancer. The only sign was the sneezing and a nose that was leakier than usual.
Blood panels and imaging, etc., ARE expensive. My dog has chronic pancreatitis. He rarely has a flareup, but when he does, I appreciate that my vet doesn’t feel it’s necessary to do blood work, just treat the symptoms. I don’t think Lauren12 meant that folks should just keep returning for more meds. Likely as not, the initial med, prescribed for the most common problem with those symptoms, will do the trick. End of story, without expensive tests. If symptoms persist, then my guess is Lauren12 will NOT just continue to throw different drugs at it, but would advocate for a definitive diagnosis, if possible. Better the client feel comfortable bringing the pet in than saying,“oh no, every time I go to the vet they want to perform $1000 worth of tests, I can’t go to the vet.”
My two cents, and you get what you pay for. That said, I did have my rescue girl get one of those floaty seeds from some weed up her nose. I was able to squirt mild nasal spray and that solved it. If it hadn’t she would have been at the vet, too. Of course, I will never be able to approach her with nasal spray again…
Well, there must have been a resolution by now! … This is a Zombie thread - from 2012 :winkgrin:
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