My dog has bloody snot, x-rays and blood work clear. What now?

Poor Daisy! She is an older girl, and unfortunately this sneezing with blood in her snot could be due to a malignant growth (cancer) in her nasal cavity. It could also be due to a foreign body, fungal infection, or respiratory infection. Because this has been ongoing for a while, it's best that Daisy is seen by a vet either today or tomorrow. The vet can do a physical exam, blood tests, urinalysis, x-rays, and may look up her nasal cavity with an endoscope to diagnose what is causing her symptoms. Once a cause is found, the vet can discuss treatment options with you.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, a CT scan would be the next diagnostic for something like this. This is very important as I am afraid this could either be a nasal cancer or possibly a severe nasal fungal infection. A CT scan helps to distinguish these conditions and a biopsy will help confirm it. Rhinoscopy is needed in some cases to better visualize the nasal cavity after the CT scan is done. Good luck and have a great day!

When it is one nostril then it narrows the causes down to a few possibilities. It is very possible that there could be an object up in the nasal cavity causing these signs. The other concern would be a nasal tumor. Nasal tumors can be hard to diagnose without a CT scan. I will usually do an anesthetized nasal flush to see if it helps. If not then I will usually refer to a specialist for a possible CT. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon.

The big question is the nasal discharge, especially the bloody one is it from one nostril or is it from both? If it is from one then I highly recommend going for advanced imaging of Max's nose. If it is both and the antibiotics and prednisone don't help then I would recommend further imaging. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

With a dog as young as he, my first guess would be a seed or bit of grass that he has sneezed into his nasal passage. Since he seems to be feeling okay otherwise I don't think he needs anything special done before he gets in to see the vet. If they don't find something else causing his sneezing, they may need to sedate him in order to explore his nasal passages for any sign of a foreign body.

I would definitely be concerned about the bloody nose. Since he does frequent the dog park, infections such as bordetella, influenza, or even contagious nasal mites are possible. A nasal foreign body is also possible. I would highly encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian soon. Antibiotics may be recommended. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

If you haven't already tried it I would recommend a trial of antibiotics and antihistamines to rule out allergies and infection in the nose. If you have already done this then it may be time to refer to an internal medicine specialist since your vet has already done a thorough work up and could not determine the cause of the problem. The specialist could do a CT scan of the head/nose or a scope of the nose (where they look up the nose with a special camera) to see what exactly is going on.