Dottie The Snot Nosed Dog

I need some expert input.  You know Dottie just went thru the treatment
for heart worms.  She went thru 3- rounds of Doxycycline.  (Feb 18 –
March 19; April 19 – May 18; June 18 – July 17).  On September 18, we
took her back in to be tested; the Dr said her level was within normal
range.

Since then she has developed a sneeze.  We had her back to see the vet
on 10/24/19.  The Dr gave her a Dex/Vit B12/Amp Injection and sent us
home with 20- 500mg Amoxicillin Tabs to be given 1- twice a day, plus
she told us we could give her generic Zyrtec once per day (10mg).  She
is still sneezing a lot, sometimes so bad that it scares her because she
seems to almost lose her breath.  She has quite a bit of congestion.
Most of the time we can’t get to her in time to get the snot before she
licks it off her nose.  When we do see it, it is very thick.  When I do
catch her in time, I wipe it off before she does.  Can you recommend
anything we can do to help her get over this.  Is it possible that
because she took 3 rounds of Doxycycline that it could have caused her
to build up a resistance to antibiotics and kept the Amoxicillin from
working?  We are very concerned and looking forward to your reply.  HELP!!!

Response:

It’s very possible Dottie’s had a lot of antibiotics, and is more vulnerable to infection.

She ought to:

Have a CBC to see about infection

Be examined with the suspicion of something in her sinuses if only infection

Possibly have her sinuses flushed out under sedation

That doc will be concerned to know that the mucus is thick

That speaks to a worsening situation

I feel sure more antibiotics are needed and no more Dex.

More:

• Of the last 7 cases like that that I saw, one of them was unexplained
• One of them was a tooth root abscess
• One of them was nasal polyps
• Two of them a piece of grass that had been lodged in the sinus
• Two of them were cancer

Really none of them are very easy to diagnose because it’s hard to get a camera (endoscope, mirror, anything) into the sinus. Both of the cases that had grass in the sinus eventually worked their way out to the point where the owner could see tiny tip of the grass, and pull the blade out. Every day before that, the cases were mysteries.