Nasal Discharge in Pets & Animals | Causes & Treatments

Nasal discharge in pets and other animals is a common finding in clinical settings that may point to an underlying condition that needs to be investigated. This article will help you a lot in how you can easily treat rhinitis in animals with simple solutions. Are you interested? Then let’s get into it.

Other Names: Rhinitis, Rhinosinusitis, Nasal Gleet, Nasal Catarrh, Nasal Coryza, etc.

What is Rhinitis?

Rhinitis is the inflammation of the nasal mucosa which is clinically characterized by periodic sneezing, noisy breathing, and nasal discharge.

Possible Causes of Nasal Discharge in Pets & Animals

Numerous underlying disorders might induce nasal discharge in pets & animals. It can be caused by a systemic disease or a localized infection of the nasal mucosa. Some of the diseases in which nasal discharge is a common symptom are as follows:

Bacterial	Viral	Fungal	Parasitic
Glanders	Bovine Malignant Catarrh	Aspergillosis	Schistosoma nasalis (cattle)
Strangles	Rinderpest	Histoplasmosis	Sheep Nasal Botfly Larvae
Melioidosis	Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis	Rhinosporidiosis	Oestrus ovis
Pasteurellosis	Equine Viral Arteritis		Habronema species
Mycoplasmosis	Equine arteritis		Linguatula serrata in dogs
		African Horse Sickness
		Blue tongue
		Canine Distemper
		Feline panleukopenia
		Infectious coryza in chickens
		PPR & Contagious Ecthyma

Other possible causes of nasal gleet in animals are:

Allergic Rhinitis:

Summer snuffle is an allergic condition of cattle and sheep that causes granulomatous rhinitis. Inhalation of irritant fumes, especially ammonia may also trigger nasal discharge in pets & other animals.

Physical Causes of Rhinitis in Animals:

Animals who have suffered an external or internal injury to their nasal mucosa may develop rhinitis. Sometimes irritating vomitus contents, the grazing spiny awns of grass, or the passage of feed or water via a cleft palate into the nostrils can also cause the release of nasal discharge.

Note: Squamous cell carcinoma, papillomatosis, fibrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and benign polyps have been reported to cause proliferative rhinitis in animals.

Pathogenesis of Rhinitis in Animals

Rhinitis can develop as a primary or subsequent condition to respiratory illnesses. Depending on the cause of the infection, the inflammatory response can vary.  It may vary from simple erythema to catarrhal, erosive, ulcerative, granulomatous, proliferative, or necrotic type.  In the end, the infection causes exudation and sneezing. Acute bilateral inflammation may obstruct airways, resulting in dyspnea and noisy breathing. It’s possible for the infection to travel to the sinuses and cause rhinosinusitis.

Clinical Signs of Rhinitis in Animals

The early clinical signs of rhinitis in animals are periodic sneezing of varying intensity, dyspnea, and wheezing both at inspiration and expiration. Nasal discharge that may be serous, mucoid, purulent, or mucopurulent is the most common clinical finding. Similarly, nasal discharge can be unilateral or bilateral.

Note: Shaking of the head and rubbing of the nose against hard objects in order to reduce irritation are also reported in some animals.

How to Diagnose the Actual Cause of Nasal Discharge in Animals?

As stated earlier, that nasal discharge can be the reason for so many diseases, so in order to diagnose the actual reason, take nasal swabs and then examined for any bacterial, fungal, or parasitic pathogen. Apart from nasal swabs, blood reports can also indicate the degree of cellular damage. X-rays and rhinoscopy may be useful for the identification of intranasal neoplastic growth. Specific serological tests may be required to identify viral diseases.

Differential Diagnosis of Rhinitis in Animals:

• Rhinitis in horses has to be distinguished from fascial sinusitis and guttural pouch infections. Both conditions are characterized by persistent, purulent, often unilateral nasal discharge without the presence of sneezing or lesions in the nasal cavity.

• Phyrangitis and tracheobronchitis are associated with bilateral nasal discharge and cough, but without sneezing and any lesions in the nasal mucosa.

• If the nasal discharge is accompanied by blood with a history of trauma then epistaxis can be the tentative diagnosis.

• A greenish nasal discharge can be the reason of the choke.

Treatment of Nasal Discharge in Pets & Other Animals

In order to stop nasal discharge in pets & other animals, various treatment options are available.

1- Specific Treatment: If the actual cause of rhinitis is known then antibiotics, antifungals, or anthelmintics are the options.

2- Supportive Treatment: The physical removal of sticky exudates from the nostrils by flushing with normal saline may relieve dyspnea. Other Supportive therapies are:

• Wash the nasal area with some antiseptic solution, then apply a layer of any antiseptic ointment.
• Steam inhalation alone or with some decongestants like Eucalyptus oil, Turpentine oil, or Camphor may be of great value in clearing the airways.
• Chlorbutol in 1% liquid paraffin may be used as nasal drops for rhinitis in animals.
• Antihistaminics and Anti-inflammatory drugs can be given parenterally in acute rhinitis to get maximum benefit.

Takeaway Note:

If your sheep has nasal flies then here is the quick solution: Take liquid paraffin and carbon disulfide in equal amounts then use this solution for nostrils instillation. You can also use Lysol (3% in water) and use it as nasal douche. Another option is to instill each nostril with 3ml of tetrachloroethane.

Conclusion:

Rhinitis is the inflammation of the nasal mucosa which is characterized by a nasal discharge that can be of various types depending upon the etiology. It’s not a disease itself rather, it’s a symptom of such diseases in which the respiratory system is compromised. Treatment options include specific or supportive depending on the etiology.