Sneezing--stuck seed?

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wems2371
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Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by wems2371 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:32 pm

I went hunting with a friend Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Late Friday afternoon, as we were just about out of the field, my dog Brandi started having a sneezing fit. There was nothing easily visible in her nasal nares. I crated her up and we moved on to the next spot where I got one of my other dogs out. That night, she had several more fits while we slept. It seemed like every hour or two, she'd sneeze pretty hard for a few times.

Saturday morning all was quiet. I crated her up and planned on not hunting her. Each time we were in the truck, she was quiet and when I got her out to potty, she had no issues. So I hunted her for a couple hours. I heard one single sneeze during that time and that was it. I thought all was good until she had a couple more fits that evening. It was nothing like the night before, with just a couple fits.

I went to my regular vet this afternoon. He used the handheld scope which only goes so far up, and said he saw nothing. He is a fellow hunter, so aware of seeds and mean seeds. He told me that even if she dislodged this on her own and it came out her throat, it was likely that she would swallow it and it would be digested by stomach acid and rendered harmless. He gave me Cephalexin in case of infection and told me to watch her for a couple days to see if the frequency continues to reside. If not he'll give me a referral for rhinoscopy. He said it's rare for the smaller vets to have that kind of camera scope. He had another seed type issue yesterday and called a local vet and it was going to be $1000 to $1200 to do a rhinoscopy. We discussed that Iowa State Vet School would hopefully be much cheaper since things are more routine for them.

My gut tells me we're going to end up needing that scope. Has anyone else had this done and what was your expense? How long would you wait? We discussed, because of the holiday situation, giving it a few days. Is there something else that might be going on? I was feeding her in a brakefast bowl and that seemed to induce a fit everytime, as if bumping her nose on the protrusions was triggering it. I've fed her on the floor a couple times without incident. I also gave her a marrow bone this afternoon and she had a couple fits. The only other thing I can think of is facial trauma, although she is totally normal in every other way. Thirty minutes to an hour before the sneezing on Friday, I'm pretty sure she had an accident while hunting in cattails. I saw her crossing some upland, and coming back through some cattails in a ditch right in front of me, when I heard a loud thud and then dead silence. That dead silence scared the heck out of me, as I imagined her laying in a heap. A couple seconds later she came through the cattails looking just a little disoriented, but got back to hunting quickly. Upon investigation, I'm pretty sure she ran into the side of a steel box culvert that was feeding the drainage area. She has 4-5 dime sized bare marks in a line across her chest area and one abrasion. I can't imagine she also hit her face, but that's the only other thing I can think of, besides a seed. One other dog in our hunting party had a couple sneezing fits at a different patch of land, but that resolved on it's own. Any experience or thoughts?

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MJB64
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Re: Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by MJB64 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:56 pm

It could be more than a seed. One of my dogs had a sneezing fit after a hunt. After it ended I noticed a bloody twig on the kitchen floor. I was amazed the it could be rammed up there and still be sneezed out.

Mike
"Endeavor to perservere."

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wems2371
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Re: Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by wems2371 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:04 pm

Definitely could be a piece of stick too. I was really hoping my vet would find something to remove, so we both could rest easy. I don't have a lot of hope that after 72 hours, that if there is something stuck, it's going to come out on it's own. Vet also cranked her mouth open wide to look at the back of her throat, and everything looked okay.

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deseeker
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Re: Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by deseeker » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:08 pm

Friends dog(britt) after hunting was sneezing all the time. Vet said let him try to sneeze it out. 2 days later still sneezing. The ran a scope up the nose, saw the obstruction and ended up taking out a narrow weed stem about 4" long. :( Omaha vet cost him a $1000, but the dog is going to be back hunting on Wednesday after a week lay up.

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ACooper
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Re: Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by ACooper » Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:47 am

wems2371

Take this for what it's worth, but everything I have read regarding the the seeds and/or Norcardia is that if you wait until they start showing signs of infection that many times it is too late.

You can always call over to Perfection they have dealt with some of this lately or Peggy Sieve STLGSP here, is also currently treating a dog.

Not saying you need the scope, but it is a really good thing the vet put her on the antibiotics.

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wems2371
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Re: Sneezing--stuck seed?

Post by wems2371 » Thu Nov 27, 2014 1:08 pm

Well it's very hard to know what to do. If it weren't for the pricetag, I'd have went there immediately. She is barely sneezing at all any more...with maybe just 2-3 fits a day for just a minute. Still not acceptable to me, so I'll be thinking about this hard tomorrow when ISU opens. My vet seemed to downplay anything being stuck up there and said aren't dogs such drama queens while she was having a fit in his office. He also said an ingested seed was nothing to worry about, if she did dislodge it on her own, but I have read differently. :|

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