This is quite a long story but I need to relay it to give you all the info.
About 2 and a half years ago my boy, currently a 12 and a half year old blue roan, had to have his little bits removed as he had a prostate issue and started passing blood.
All went well, except about 5 days or so after the op he started reverse sneezing. Of course I thought it was very serious and after a day or so and a trip to the vets, it passed. He has in that time had maybe a handful of time when he reverse sneezed once or twice. I never worried about it.
about 6-8 weeks ago - I can't quite remember now, he started again and after it was carrying on for about 7 days, I realised this wasn't right. You know sometimes it's only after such a time you realise how long it's been going on. It was mainly at night.
At around the same time he had gunky eyes which normally requires a tear duct flush. However, I tried some Maxitrol and this seemed to clear it a bit but after 7 days again it hadn't cleared properly. I decided it was now vets time. The morning of the vets he also had a slightly yellowy discharge from the left nostril.
Unfortunately, we didn't see our usual vet, but the lady put him on Synulox for 7 days, Maxitrol ointment and claimed he had the most terrible heart murmur and put him on heart tablets.
I need to point out he had also been suffering from increasingly noxious breath and although I had been cleaning his teeth regularly, he really needed a dental. However at 12 and a half I felt concerned about him having to be put out for just a dental. I lost my last cocker at 12 and a half. He had a dental at 12 and was never the same dog after - all his character went.
OK so the noxious breath went and the eyes cleared a bit but the reverse sneezing still there.
To cut a long story short we tried antihistamines and still the reverse sneezing persisted. The only way was an endoscopy to ascertain what was wrong.
The endoscopy showed nothing - no growths no foreign bodies and the swabs just showed a large area of mast cells which the pathologist suggested due to a lack of growth, was chronic inflammation and suggested Rimadyl to reduce the inflammation.
The only other thing found was my boy went blue on the op table because he has a slightly collapsing larynx.
The vet assumed the reverse sneezing was due to the collapsing larynx and gave my man months or weeks. I was in pieces. However, I now know dogs can live with both collapsed larynx and trachea with careful management, so I decided to go the positive route. The Rimadyl worked at reducing the inflammation of the larynx so much so that the vet has said the is a "positively marked recovery" though complete recovery may not be attained.
However, still reverse sneezing with now added clear sticky mucoid discharge from one nostril. He has times when his breathing great and he sleeps soundly, but mainly at night he gets what sounds like a very snotty nose, bubbling and reverse sneezing. You can see him swallowing the stuff down. It's not infected - he is currently on Baytril plus I am giving him Dorwest's Garlic and Fenugreek tablets. I have also ordered some Pulsitilla and Silica homeopathic drops from Denes as these apparently clear up excessive catarrh. Everything points to rhinitis or possibly a missed foreign body - but I am very worried, lacking in sleep and really not wanting to start him on the slippery slope of continuous steroids for the rest of his life - the vet has given me some prenisolone but I am loathed.
Any help of advice would be appreciated and I'm sorry if there is spelling mistakes but I am typing this blind as the message box keeps flicking back up to the top so I can't read what I have written.
Sorry just to add he is no longer on the heart tablets as he doesn't have a terrible heart murmur - only a very very mild one.