Home Remedies for Dog Stuffy Nose

Dog stuffy nose means your dog is having a health condition. In this article, we are providing help for dogs to recover from stuffy noses. Try the home remedies for dog stuffy noses and get your pet back on track.

Dogs may sneeze, cough, and may show other symptoms as a result of a stuffy nose health condition. If the dog is heavily sneezing, coughing, and having trouble breathing then you better approach your vet. Make sure that your dog is not affected by serious illness.

For mild sneezing and coughing results of this health condition, home remedies are good enough to heal. Before going into home remedies let us understand a bit more about dog stuffy nose health conditions. Let us understand the causes and symptoms of dog stuffy nose problems. Also, what are the natural decongestants for dogs?

What is Dog’s Stuffy Nose?

Excess mucus makes the dog’s nose become stuffy. This happens due to two main health conditions of the nose in dogs.

Two Main Conditions that Trigger Stuffy Nose in Dogs:

• Irritation and swelling of the mucous membrane in the nose (Rhinitis): this is attributed to stuffiness and a running nose. Usually caused by the common cold and seasonal allergies.
• Cavities around the nasal passages become inflamed (Sinusitis): This is caused by bacterial or viral infections. Sometimes by allergies.

Both the above conditions increase the amounts of mucus and lead to stuffy noses in dogs.

Dog Stuffy Nose Causes and Symptoms

Here are the main causes of the stuffy nose (Rhinitis and Sinusitis) in dogs:

• Fungal infections
• Parasites
• Common cold
• Bacterial infection
• Viral infection
• Tooth root abscess
• Abnormal tissue growth (Neoplasia)
• Foreign objects within the nose
• Traumatic injury
• Allergies
• Congenital abnormalities (cleft palate)
• Tumor in the nose (Nasal polyps)
• Change of pigmentation on and around the nose
• Inflammatory diseases

Many symptoms are observed in dogs that are affected by a stuffy nose.

The main symptoms are:

• Sneezing
• Runny nose
• Facial abnormality
• Trouble breathing
• Swelling around the nose
• Heavy or unusual breathing sound
• open-mouth breathing
• Bad Breath
• Pawning on the face
• Lack of scent ability
• Weight loss
• Lethaginess
• Restlessness
• Coughing
• Loss of appetite
• Depression
• Gagging
• Stuffy nose (mucus nasal discharge)
• Declined airflow from nasal passages (due to stuffy nose)
• Trying to pull the discharge into the throat (reverse sneezing) and
• Nose bleeding

Dog Stuffy Nose Trouble Breathing Due to Allergies

You may notice a clear nasal discharge from the dog’s nose. That is a sign that your pet has allergies. Allergies are similar to human allergies such as:

• Pollen allergies
• Certain types of foods
• Spores
• Drug and
• Chemicals

Fall allergies are very common in cold countries. The above allergies may cause sneezing, itchiness, coughing, bleeding, and breathing difficulties in dogs. Running nose is one of the main symptoms of allergies.

Avoiding allergy triggers is the best way to treat these allergies in dogs. Better consult your vet to know the cause of the allergy. That will help you to keep your pet away from allergy triggers.

Dog Congestion Home Remedies

Dog stuffy nose home remedies are much simpler. These remedies only help if the dog sounds congested with mild common colds only. For severe cases, you need to get treatment from the vet.

1. How to Clear My Dogs Nose?

Appling the following remedies will help with mild dog nasal congestion. For severe cases, approach a vet to have the dog tested and treated.

Appling the following remedies will help the dog that has a clogged nose with mild nasal congestion. For severe cases, approach a vet to have the dog tested and treated.

Massaging nose gently – Gentle massage on the nose helps to drain off the mucus. Massage the nose and area around gently to remove the excess mucus.

Using a nasal aspirator – Nasal aspirator can suck out the excess mucus from the nose. Get yourself trained on how to use an aspirator on the dog’s nose.

Always be gentle. Always only the tip of the nasal aspirator should be inserted into the dog’s nasal passage. Remember to clean it thoroughly after use. Never use a nasal aspirator that you use on your children.

Steaming – Steaming is a good way to drain the mucus from the dog’s nose. It is very effective. The best thing you could do is let your dog be with you when you take a hot shower. The steam from the shower helps the dog to have mucus drained from its nose.

Use of a humidifier – If possible, try to use a humidifier. It will increase the moisture in the air. This works well to clear the excess mucus from the nose. Ensure that a clean humidifier is used for this purpose. Else you will be necessarily inviting unwanted health problems to your pet.

2. Nose Blockage Home Remedies

How to treat a dog’s stuffy nose with a blockage? As mentioned earlier dog stuffy noses could have been caused by certain blockages. The blockage causes a discharge from the nose.

Examine the dog’s nose and look for any foreign particles. Mostly, nose blockages are caused by a blade of grass, seeds, etc.

Take extra care when removing these blockages. Use tweezers to remove foreign particles safely without damaging the nose tissues.

The symptoms of nose blockages are sneezing, nose pawning, and bleeding.

If the nose tissues are damaged or bleeding gets the help of a vet to remove the blockage. Because he is the expert on this task. Further, the vet may prescribe antibiotics to prevent any infections.

3. How to Control Dog Nose Bleed

When your dog’s nose is bleeding you have to find the root cause. At the same time making an attempt to stop the bleeding is equally important.

Nosebleeds can happen in dogs for one of the following reasons:

• foreign objects
• Infections
• Polyps
• Tumor and
• etc.

Here is the first level of actions you could take to stop the dog nosebleed:

• Try to soothe and calm your dog
• Use an absorbent to cover the bleeding nose
• Help your dog with a cold compress. Apply it over the nose and between the eyes and nostrils
• Let your dog sit in a comfortable position. Do not forcibly tilt the dog’s head backward.
• Avoid putting anything inside the dog’s nose

If nose bleeding prolongs and does not stop in a few minutes, get the help of a vet for treatment

4. Using Nasal Allergy Sprays in Dogs

Here we like to give a bit of insight into using a nasal spray if a dog is congested and is caused by allergies.

Saline nasal spray or pediatric nasal sprays may be prescribed for puppies and dogs to alleviate dryness and nasal congestion associated with a cold allergy.

According to Dr. Susan O’Bell of MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, regular use is not recommended. The safe bet is the saline nasal spray helps to break up secretions. This can be tried at-home symptomatic treatment.

Naturally, canines, or any pets, do not like anything squirting up into their noses. Says Dr. Jennifer Coates, veterinarian and author of “Dictionary of Veterinary Terms: Vet-speak Deciphered for the Non-Veterinarian”. Therefore, it is not easy to administer the nasal spray to dogs with congestion caused by allergies. This is one of the main reasons why the use of nasal spray is not that popular in treating pets.

When to See a Veterinarian?

If the dog blocked nose symptoms are prolonged for a period of time get the help of the vet. Any type of infection such as viral, bacterial, or fungal causing stuffy nose includes symptoms of:

• nose bleeding
• bad breath and
• coughing

All these symptoms are the result of the postnasal drip.

Each type of infection demands different treatments:

• Bacterial infection: This May require your pet to be on several weeks of antibiotics.
• Fungal infection: Your vet may prescribe antifungal drugs. Severe cases may have to go through surgery.

Treatment for Tumors and Polyps in the Nose

Excess mucus and blood on sight indicate the dog has overgrown mucus-producing glands. This is nothing but the polyps.

In this case, your pet may find it difficult to breathe. One side of the nose bulging also can be observed with such conditions.

The vet may opt for surgery to treat polyps. More possibilities for having surgery to be repeated. This is because polyps may reappear.

For tumors depending on the nature of it, the vet treats them with surgery or radiation.

Takeaway

Mild stuffy noses or congestions are not considered dangerous for dogs. These last for a shorter period of time. Dogs may smell bad and look different when they are affected by a stuffy nose.

These are powerful home remedies for dog stuffy noses that can be safely tried. Monitor the progress and recovery period. If the stuffy nose is not going away do not delay going to a vet for treatment.

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