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My old dog has green snot, tail down, and weird breathing. What's wrong?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | 14 years and 9 months old

My 15 year old Pincher started to walk with his tail down stick to his bottom all the time. He never did this before. Also I saw greenish discharge from his nose. He cannot get cold since he lives in the house all the time and it is always warm. No bath recently. He seems less energic than ever. He does something like sneezing but is is not actually sneezing. What could be problem? What can I do?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

Veterinarian

Published on April 8th, 2018

Poor Spike. With his age, there could be several different things going on and the tail and green nasal discharge could be unrelated. As far as the tail, this could just be indicating that he doesn't feel well or it could be something going on with his tail muscles or anal glands. The nasal discharge is quite concerning. This could be indicative of a pneumonia, bacterial infection, severe upper respiratory infection, viral infection, fungal infection, or even cancer. You could try Benadryl twice a day (see link below), a humidifier in his sleeping area, and even holding him in a small bathroom with a hot steamy shower going to help break up the mucus. With his age though, I would strongly recommend to have him seen by your vet. Your vet can do blood work and x-rays if needed and get him started on the proper meds to help him feel better before he gets worse.

https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/#!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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