Can anyone help with these symtoms?

[Booboos]

This is a bit of a long shot, but you never know!

Jakey has had a nasal discharge, sneezing and wet, chokey-type cough for about 10 months now (often he has a little bit of eye discharge as well from the repeated sneezing/coughing). He has been referred to Leahurst.

He has had extensive tests (CT, rhinoplasty, bloods, x-rays) and it is NOT any of the following things:
- infection
- foreign object
- fungal infection
- tumour or growth
- abnormality in the underlying structures of the nose

He does not seem to be in any pain anywhere on his face.

The problem has NOT responded to a variety of antibiotics, some tried over a period of many weeks. He had an allergy test, the only thing he is allergic to is related to damp, but there is no damp in his environment so we think this was a false positive.

Initially he did respond to oral steroids, getting about 50% better in terms of the discharge, then he reached a plateau so we switched to an inhaler. He was almost fine on the inhaler but when we started reducing the dose, the discharge returned.

This time it did not clear up with the inhaler, then did not respond to oral steroids and now does not appear to even respond to a really high dose of oral steroids, so he is currently on a very high dose of steroids and the discharge is as bad as it has ever been.

It's all getting a bit desperate now! Can anyone think of anything that might help?

 

[Bruised]

Did he have his sinuses flushed? My chap had sinusitus and, while antibiotics etc cleared it up initially, there was thickening of the sinus wall and the problem reoccured. In the end he he had to have his sinuses flushed which meant 3 days in hospital. Fortunately he is a lot better but the next step, if it was to get worse again, would be an operation to basically construct a new sinus. I believe that once the sinuses have been inflammed and there is a lot of thickening it's a problem that can recur. He did get some further discharge after the winter when the snow had melted and there were increased levels of allergens but I found that a bute over a 3-4 days reduced the inflammation of the sinus wall and he was fine.

Hope you find the solution.

 

[Booboos]

Thanks for the reply!

No he didn't because there was no evidence of sinusitis. He has not responded to antibiotics and, if I understand correctly, the various tests he did discounted a sinus problem.

Again as far as I understand it, steroids are the best thing for reducing inflammation, which is why I am despairing a bit that he is on such a high dose (1mg x double his weight, so 30mg a day) and it's not having any effect at all!

 

[Bruised]

Have to say that the large dose of steroids didn't do much for my chap either.

 

[Gluttonforpunishment]

Have you had a second opinion from a different practice. I in no way mean that your vet isn't competant but sometimes it is a good thing to have a completely new set of eyes look at a problem.

Maybe try phoning the Royal Veterinary College Queen Mother Hospital in Hertfordshire -01707 666366. They are about the best in the country.

 

[Booboos]

We started with the local vets who then referred us to the Small Animal Teaching Hospital in Leahurst who also have a great reputation. They have really helped us in the past with Betty heart problems (4 years and counting with no problems, following a diagnosis that we should have her PTS!), so I do trust them but I will raise it with them when we speak next week to see if there is someone out there who has more experience.