Why Is Your Dog’s Nose Running
📝 Summary
A dog's runny nose from dust, irritants, or sudden weather change is usually harmless, but thick or pus-like discharge with fever or cough, constant drooling, lost appetite, or a changed setting needs attention. Thick mucus suggests bacterial or viral infection, thin watery fluid points to rhinitis or upper respiratory infection, and pus signals inflammatory pus formation. Causes range from drug or food poisoning and allergy to pulmonary edema, nasal stenosis, sinusitis, rhinitis, heartworm, canine flu, adenovirus II, infectious hepatitis, and distemper. A simple first check is to wipe the nose with a tissue and look at the discharge.
1 When to take it seriously
Be alert if any of these apply: no sudden temperature or room change yet the nose runs, there is fever, there is a cough, the dog drools constantly, appetite drops, or the environment recently changed.
2 Reading the discharge
Thick mucus suggests a bacterial or viral infection. Very thin, watery fluid points to rhinitis or an upper respiratory infection. Pus-like discharge indicates inflammation with pus formation. Also note that eye disease can raise tear production, and tears draining into the nose can look like a runny nose.
3 Conditions that can cause a runny nose
Possible causes include drug poisoning, food poisoning, food allergy, and pulmonary edema; nasal stenosis, sinusitis, rhinitis, and heartworm infection; and canine flu, adenovirus type II, infectious hepatitis, and distemper. The easiest first step is to wipe the dog’s nose with a tissue and examine what comes out.
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