Allergic rhinitis

[blackcob]

You might remember me posting about Ricoh's 'cold' a few weeks back - two courses of antibiotics later he is still not right, full of snot and intermittently congested and sneezing. He came right shortly after the first course but is now sort of low-grade snotty all the time.

Back to the vets we went, he was prescribed a second course but the vet was very interested in the fact that he reverse sneezes a lot (every day, sometimes multiple times in a day) and has mooted allergic rhinitis as the cause instead of a respiratory infection. Now he's said it, the fact that he very occasionally paws at his mouth and nose, as well as the reverse sneezing, is ticking all the boxes.

Any experiences/ideas? He didn't have any symptoms until about a month ago so I'm fairly sure it's not pollen based, there's not a great deal of available allergens in the house (hoovered every day with a HEPA filtered vacuum, carpet in two rooms only, only one upholstered sofa which has covers hot washed weekly, bedding washed weekly), nothing in particular seems to trigger the sneezing.

I've already had to claim for his wee-pipe investigations, my insurance premium is going to go through the roof.

 

[classicalfan]

Reverse sneezing? Do you mean he sniffs to pull the mucus down his throat?

 

[blackcob]

No it's not a sniff, it's a distressing sort of honking inhalation, if you search for it on YouTube there's lots of examples. He's always done it, long before he had the snotty symptoms, and nothing in particular seems to trigger it, except that he is sometimes apt to do it when excited. He's never done it while running which was my biggest fear, would put an end to his sledding activities if he had to stop and honk halfway round a course.

 

[Pendlehog]

I have had dogs with it at work before, they typically had low grade "snuffles" permanently, one reverse sneezed though the other never did, piriton seemed to be very effective for boyh (thankfully its cheap!)
If the piriton doesnt help swabs may be useful, he may have a strain of kc or similar which is resistant to the antibs youve tried so far. Hope hes sorted soon.