Foxtrot1
Well-known member
Guys, this is my DK puppy Asha. I thought I might share my experiences with her over the past 8 months. Maybe this will help some of you guys with dogs if you ever have a similar situation.
I picked her up from a large kennel facility (not the breeder) when she was 11 months old. She was a little thin and had a runny nose, so I took her to our family vet to have her checked out before exposing my other dogs to something. She had a sinus infection that my vet thought was just some “bug” she had picked up in the kennel. So he prescribed a 7 day course of antibiotics and sent her home. She initially responded to the drugs and started to put a little weight on. 10 days after the antibiotics her sinus infection returned. So, I took her back to the vet for another round of antibiotics. 10 days after the 2nd treatment and the infection had returned. On the third trip back to the family vet, he wanted to try another drug incase the bacteria was resistant to the drugs we had tried the first two times. So he prescribed a Z-pack from the local pharmacy. Yep, 10 days later it returned. So on the follow up visit, our vet was out of answers. He thought she had either a fungal infection, a tooth root had perforated her sinus cavity, a foreign body was trapped in her sinuses, or she may have cancer. He did not have the equipment to conduct a rhinoscopy, so he referred me to an internal medicine specialist. On her first visit he conducted a saline flush of her sinus cavity and collected samples for culturing. When the cultures were back he prescribed Baytril for 6 weeks ($3 tablet/2x day). Asha really responded, started to put weight on, so we started getting ready for this coming hunting season. About 1 month after the course of Baytril the sinus infection returned. I called Vet#2 back and he scheduled a rhinoscopy. So she was taken to a third vet facility where a surgeon conducted a rhinoscopy and collected biopsies for analysis. Asha was prescribed another month of Baytril. The rhinoscopy didn’t find anything conclusive. The infection was bacterial, her teeth were OK, no foreign bodies, and all of the tissue samples were normal. But while she was sedated the vet noticed something odd about her soft palate, it had a hole in it. After the procedure he asked me if she had trouble eating. She eats as much as I will feed daily, but often sneezes. I had always assumed this was due to the chronic sinus infections she suffered from. It turns out she has a cleft soft palate that allows food particles to enter her sinuses and this causes the infections. So we are waiting on the surgeon to schedule the procedure. It should be fairly simple and should correct the problem.
So, if you encounter a dog with chronic rhinitis, be sure your vet checks its soft palate for defects. Cleft palates are a genetic disorder that is not easily detectable. This could save you a lot of time and money.
I picked her up from a large kennel facility (not the breeder) when she was 11 months old. She was a little thin and had a runny nose, so I took her to our family vet to have her checked out before exposing my other dogs to something. She had a sinus infection that my vet thought was just some “bug” she had picked up in the kennel. So he prescribed a 7 day course of antibiotics and sent her home. She initially responded to the drugs and started to put a little weight on. 10 days after the antibiotics her sinus infection returned. So, I took her back to the vet for another round of antibiotics. 10 days after the 2nd treatment and the infection had returned. On the third trip back to the family vet, he wanted to try another drug incase the bacteria was resistant to the drugs we had tried the first two times. So he prescribed a Z-pack from the local pharmacy. Yep, 10 days later it returned. So on the follow up visit, our vet was out of answers. He thought she had either a fungal infection, a tooth root had perforated her sinus cavity, a foreign body was trapped in her sinuses, or she may have cancer. He did not have the equipment to conduct a rhinoscopy, so he referred me to an internal medicine specialist. On her first visit he conducted a saline flush of her sinus cavity and collected samples for culturing. When the cultures were back he prescribed Baytril for 6 weeks ($3 tablet/2x day). Asha really responded, started to put weight on, so we started getting ready for this coming hunting season. About 1 month after the course of Baytril the sinus infection returned. I called Vet#2 back and he scheduled a rhinoscopy. So she was taken to a third vet facility where a surgeon conducted a rhinoscopy and collected biopsies for analysis. Asha was prescribed another month of Baytril. The rhinoscopy didn’t find anything conclusive. The infection was bacterial, her teeth were OK, no foreign bodies, and all of the tissue samples were normal. But while she was sedated the vet noticed something odd about her soft palate, it had a hole in it. After the procedure he asked me if she had trouble eating. She eats as much as I will feed daily, but often sneezes. I had always assumed this was due to the chronic sinus infections she suffered from. It turns out she has a cleft soft palate that allows food particles to enter her sinuses and this causes the infections. So we are waiting on the surgeon to schedule the procedure. It should be fairly simple and should correct the problem.
So, if you encounter a dog with chronic rhinitis, be sure your vet checks its soft palate for defects. Cleft palates are a genetic disorder that is not easily detectable. This could save you a lot of time and money.
