Constantly reverse sneezing

[Whippetmomma]

As my username suggests I have a Whippet, he's 10. He been reverse sneezing on and off for a while here and there. Lately though he seems to be constantly reverse - he's just spent the last 20 minutes on and off doing it.

I know he needs a trip to the vets - but has anyone else's dog had this and did it turn out to be harmless or was there something wrong?

I can't help as my dog only does it occasionally but in case you don't know, if you cover their nose it sorts it out quickly.

My greyhound does it. Apparently it's common in sighthounds, but if you're worried I'd see a vet

I do this and it does help it's just awful when he seems to be doing it non stop.

Ive owned a greyhound before and I don't remember him doing it at all. It's reassuring to know its common in sighthounds.

Could be lots of things, but I'd wonder about a dental abscess

No need to cover his nose, the sneezing stops itself

He doesn't seem to be in pain with his mouth and is eating normally.

I'll call the vet tomorrow and get him booked in

Definitely worth seeing the vet but our whippet does it probably daily/every other day but never for very long. We stroke her throat downwards, seems to get her stop. We have asked the vet about it over the years as she also gets bad hay-fever but they have never been concerned.

Please get this checked out. My dog started to do this a lot more than normal last year. I asked about it on here and someone said it could be a sign of heart failure. Sadly my dog died very suddenly before I had the chance to get her to a vet, it still haunts me now that I didn't get her checked out sooner. It may well be nothing and is something that most dogs do from time to time but if there is a noticeable increase in it happening I would definitely get it checked out. My dog was particularly bad if she was lying on her back for a tummy rub, she would start doing it and then get up and have like a little chokey episode then it would clear. I should add she was almost 13 and had had some minor surgery for removal of a small cancer ( sarcoma ) on her paw a couple of years earlier but otherwise was very active and acting completely normally apart from this reverse snorting.

I've just had an online chat with a vet that is included in my insurance for him and they advised monitoring him and making an appointment if he doesn't improve. This has gone on for a while so first thing tomorrow I am going to call the vet.

I am so sorry for you loss 💔

Also he does do it when laying on his back 😞 there's no pattern to it. He does it when at rest and the rest of the times it is just random.

I've had my boy at the vets and the good news is he's in relatively good health for his age. The vet has prescribed steroids for the sneezing - he thinks it's an allergy as his heart sounds good. We have the steroids to try in the short term then if I decide he can have bloods done to check for allergy's. However, they can't say for sure what the allergy is if the test is positive. He has a neuro issue with a hind leg also which the steroid should be helpful with too.

Im very relieved as I honestly thought they were going to say it was a heart issue, I also thought he had cataracts but he hasn't!

@Whippetmomma That’s really good news, he sounds really healthy. Have you changed anything that you use in the house lately such as washing detergents, fabric conditioners, cleaning products or air fresheners, anything like that? Dogs noses are so sensitive.

Ive changed fabric softener but I don't think that's what causes it. He's got worse in the past few weeks with the change in season I think it is possibly pollen.

Im so happy he's got a clean ish bill of health I was fearing the worst today. He looks so old all of a sudden. Vet did mention decay on his teeth but said it's to be expected for his age and wasn't concerned about removing them.

Could be pollen depending on where you live but I know where I am that certainly wouldn’t have been an issue a few weeks ago when his problem started. I still think it might be worth ditching the new fabric conditioner to see if that makes a difference, especially if you use it on his towels or bedding or things that he comes into contact with.

Glad it turned out to hopefully be something fairly minor and treatable.

I've had to have him back to the vet today as since he finished his course of steroids the issue with his legs has gotten worse.
I didn't originally take him to the vet with this problem it was something that was picked up during his consultation. One of his legs was very slow to react when checked and the vet at the time said a neuro issue.

He keeps stumbling and falling. He tried to get off the settee at the weekend and landed in a heap on the floor. One of his hind legs bends inwards as he walks and he is knuckling a bit. He was unsteady when out on a walk and seems to struggle to get up from his bed.
The vet has prescribed a course of anti inflammatories and he's to have some X-rays done to see if they can see what is causing the issue. He looks so sad, I'm 🙏 it's not anything sinister and just old age catching up with him now.