[swamplily]

We've been dealing with a runny nose and sneezing for several weeks now off and on. The vet put Taco (beagle) on antibiotics the first time and it seemed to help some but not completely.

The second round occurred over a weekend so I gave him benedryl until I could get him to the vet on Monday. They prescribed Clemastin, another antihistamine. It appeared to be working fine. Sunday he was symptom free so I didn't give him any. Monday morning we was sneezing some so I started the Clemastine again. Tuesday night the poor thing was sneezing and coughing all night long.

I took him back to the vet this morning and they want me to take him to LSU vet school to have an endoscope (I think that's what he called it). I really think it's allergies since he was fine on Sunday. They've agreed to another round of antibiotics and are also doing prednisone. They did a chest x-ray and his lungs are fine.

I'm not sure what direction to go with this. Being a beagle, Taco loves sniffing and we've got a little over an acre for him to explore. I'm sure it's something in the environment and not a foreign object up his nose since it involves both nasal passages. Our weather has been very hot, dry, and dusty lately.

Any advice or words of wisdom. Sorry this was so long.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Since the vet put Taco on antibiotics as a first choice, were there other symptoms (other than sneezing/runny nose) that led the vet to that decision? Was he thinking Taco had an infection as opposed to allergies? Did the vet run lab tests to see if there are any red flags?
My Maggie had seasonal allergies for several years and I gave her an antihistamine daily. It sounds like you stopped the antihistamine after only a few days and then stopped and started it again. I am thinking that you would need to consistently give the med to have consistent results if, indeed, everything else has been ruled out and Taco does have allergies.

 

[swamplily]

There were no other symptoms in the beginning. The vet feels allergies are more skin oriented rather than respiratory. So in his mind it was an infection. He is puzzled since Taco got better then worse on the antihistamines. They have done no testing other than the chest x-rays. That's one reason I think the scope business is jumping the gun a bit. I've read mites will also cause the same type of reaction as well as fungus.

So for now it's back to the antibiotics, prednisone, and antihistamine. I'm thinking along your line of continuing the antihistamine even if he seems better. Fingers crossed this clears up. We adopted Taco or rather he adopted us in January so we have no history on him. He appears to be around 3 yrs. Thanks for your input. BTW what antihistamine were you giving Maggie?

Originally Posted By: judymaggieSince the vet put Taco on antibiotics as a first choice, were there other symptoms (other than sneezing/runny nose) that led the vet to that decision? Was he thinking Taco had an infection as opposed to allergies? Did the vet run lab tests to see if there are any red flags?
My Maggie had seasonal allergies for several years and I gave her an antihistamine daily. It sounds like you stopped the antihistamine after only a few days and then stopped and started it again. I am thinking that you would need to consistently give the med to have consistent results if, indeed, everything else has been ruled out and Taco does have allergies.