Nasal discharge, sneezing and nosebleeds are among the most common upper respiratory complaints in dogs, and they have very different causes: a grass awn that can be pulled out in minutes, a fungal infection that destroys the turbinates, an incurable inflammatory rhinitis or a malignant tumour. Clinical signs overlap heavily, so the skill being tested is choosing the right work-up in the right order and recognising the few clues that point to one cause.
Key facts
Nasal disease (including foreign bodies) at a glance- Species and system: dogs; nasal cavity and frontal sinuses (upper respiratory tract).
- Main causes: nasal foreign body (mostly grass awns), sinonasal aspergillosis, nasal neoplasia, idiopathic lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis; less often dental disease, cleft palate, nasal mites and trauma.
- Classic foreign body case: young, active dog with sudden violent sneezing and pawing at the nose after running through long grass.
- Classic aspergillosis case: young to middle-aged long-nosed dog with profuse mucopurulent discharge, nasal pain and depigmentation or ulceration of the nasal planum.
- Classic tumour case: older dog with chronic one-sided discharge progressing to epistaxis and facial deformity.
- Key work-up rule: for chronic disease, image (CT) before rhinoscopy and biopsy; for an acute foreign body, rhinoscopy is both diagnosis and treatment.
- Zoonotic or reportable: none of the common causes is reportable; Aspergillus is an environmental mould, not spread from dog to person.
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 4 tables, 3 figures, 3 self-test questions and 19 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.