Possible Aspergillosis in beagle, we don't want to say goodbye, please help us

Birker2020

Birker2020

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We have a ten year old beagle who since about December last year has developed what the vets have diagnosed at Allergic Rhinitis - cause unknown. Candy has had xrays, a CT scan and a scope of her nasal passages, which have all proved negative for a foreign body or a tumour although it did show up that there was dead necrotic tissue in the nasal cavity which had gone through to the bone. Her symptoms are that she is snorting almost all the time, has a dry nose mostly, she gets white discharge down her nostril and ends up breathing through her mouth.

We re-homed some ex battery hens in July but it wasn't until the winter that her symptoms became worse. In the chicken run we have some pine wood bark which we laid around winter time. I've googled this wood bark and rhinitis in dogs and have come up with aspergillosis. I remember we had a consultation with the vet mid way through her treatment of the rhinitis and the vet said there was no evidence of any fungal problems, but I have found out through googling that a fungus infection does not always show up via scoping and sometimes a swab will show up under microscope the presence of fungus. However this isn't always reliable so cultures can be grown of the swab to show the evidence of fungus if it is indeed present.

Are there any vets out there that would know if aspergillosis is likely to be a cause. She spent 3 days away from the property where the hens are and although her symptoms lessened during this period they did not go completely but maybe three days is not really enough.

We are anxious for a second opinion but to be brutally honest this has cost us nearly £2k so far as she is not insured and her quality of life is so poor with the constant snorting that we are considering having her pts.

Please can anyone help???
 
My sister lost her 9 year old whippet under similar circumstances. After many tests the vet could not say why her dog was sneezing/snorting and choking and it became so distressing for the dog (and my sister) that she decided to have her pts.

When you have no insurance and finances are an issue (as they are for most of us) you have to make what may seem like a hard decision, but really, even if the dog does have aspergillosis, from what I can see on the internet, treatment is very expensive, so could you afford that ?

If your dog is distressed, the kindest thing is to have her pts. With the best will in the world, sometimes vets cannot find a cause or a cure for all health problems.
 
Why not foster her out for a longer period..say a month..to find out if it is something to do with her environment? Do dogs get bird diseases like psittacosis?
 
Jakey has had exactly the same symptoms for a year now: a lot of sneezing, a wet cough when things get bad, a lot of white discharge (from either one or both nostrils when things get bad) and a bit of discharge from the eyes as well.

He went to Leehurst where they tried swabs and cultures, a rhinoscope (sp?), CT, and allergy test, all of which came clear for tumours, foreign object, fungal infection or anything else obvious. In the absence of all other evidence we think it's an unspecified allergy, but what does help a lot is a decongestant to clear the mucus so he can breath through his nose and then a nasal inhaller (Flixotide, we get it from a pharmacy as it's a drug for humans). Two puffs, twice a day keeps him almost completely clear - might be worth a try? (if you want to give it a go, there is a special doggy inhaller that goes with it, feel free to PM me for more info. We taught Jakey to use it in 1 day and he absolutely loves it. In fact I just picked it up to see the name of the drug and he has immediately run up to me for his dose!).

Hope this helps!
 
She spent 3 days away from the property where the hens are and although her symptoms lessened during this period they did not go completely but maybe three days is not really enough.
Click to expand...

Remove what you believe is the cause and go from there????
 
amymay said:
Remove what you believe is the cause and go from there????
Click to expand...

It's quite simple in theory to remove the wood bark from the chicken run, but the spores will have already permeated the soil so not that simple as it would take many months for total destruction of the spores.

The only place to foster her out at the moment is my parents and this is not possible as my Dad has an ulcerated leg and flubitis and can hardly walk, and my Mum is out all day and doesn't want to be tied down with an ill dog which is understandable at their time of life.

Thanks for the info about the inhaler Booboos. I believe you are talking about the Aerodawg which we have been using since last Tuesday on vets advice, two puffs a day of something red which you insert in the end (cost about £50).

My partner contacted the vet this evening to update her on progress or lack of it and she said to see how she goes for another week with the aerodawg and then ring and update her. She says Candy has already been tested for Aspergillosis and so it is not that. She says there is a very good new antibiotic on the market and would like to try her with that if all else fails.

I have just come back from visiting my partner where Candy lives and unbelievably the dog has reverted back to puppyhood and is gambolling around, tail awagging like its going to fall off, play bowing and even went as far as to steal a chip from our plate (we were so happy we didn't even tell her off!!). She has good days and bad days, unfortunately the bad outweigh the good, and when we get bad days we feel like pts is the only answer for her. We will be guided by the vets advice and keep our fingers crossed. I guess getting a second opinion will help.
 
Yes it's the Aerodawg which allows you to administer a human inhaler to a dog. The red bit is the Flixotide. You may find that on days when the mucus is severe she is reluctant to breath through her nose, so the inhaller doesn't get a chance to work. Then it's worth using a decongestant (Jakey is on Bisolvon) to break up the mucus so she can inhale the drug. With Jakey we saw an improvement with the inhaller within a week, but it took months before it completely cleared up and if we stop it, the problem returns.

Best of luck in finding a solution!
 
Booboos said:
Yes it's the Aerodawg which allows you to administer a human inhaler to a dog. The red bit is the Flixotide. You may find that on days when the mucus is severe she is reluctant to breath through her nose, so the inhaller doesn't get a chance to work. Then it's worth using a decongestant (Jakey is on Bisolvon) to break up the mucus so she can inhale the drug. With Jakey we saw an improvement with the inhaller within a week, but it took months before it completely cleared up and if we stop it, the problem returns.

Best of luck in finding a solution!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. She had the bisolvon (I think that was sprinkled on her food) but it didn't do much.

We will see how it goes, its a week tonight since she started using the Aerodawg. xxx
 
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