Stuffed up nose.

Dear Vet, We have a 12 year old Australian Shepard, 80 pound male. He is not having symptoms of being sick except for a problem with a stuffy nose sometimes. He sometimes must breath through his mouth, and will forcefully blow out his nose to clean if of mucus a few times over a year. Since he has had this trouble I have seen mucus come from his nose. I did bring him to the Vet and he gave us antibiotic to give him, but he continues to sometimes have a stuffy nose and will weeze some what. I do plan to take him to a new Vet but he is very protective and barks at the Vet and is agressive, not allowing them to examine him. Do you know what might be causing mucus in upper airways, it has been going on for about a year. Do you think there is any medication to address this? He is active adn his appetite is very good. He does have some lumps on him that we assume are the benine fatty turmors type. Thank you very much and we will await your response.

Hello Dr. Marie, Thank you for responding to our question last week regarding our beloved dog Sparky. We spent about $ 1000.00 usd trying to save our cat Chester but had to put him to sleep due to cancer. We are not in a position to spend allot on Sparky. I did have him at a vet last week regarding his stuffy nose problem. He was aggressive so the vet tried to muzzle him, to examine him, but found with his mouth muzzled shut he was having real hard time breathing. The vet gave a new antibiotic and some fungal meds to give him. I have already tried antibiotics through a different vet a month ago. I understand that if he has a tumor in his nose obstructing his airway there is nothing we can do. I have seen greenish mucus from his nose a few times over the past three months, but I am wondering if this might not be a problem due to his nose but maybe his heart, like congestive heart failure or a lung problem, like the way a human would bet emphysema or bronchitis. He often now will try to blow out his nose to clean it, but when he breathes through his mouth it seems to sound wheezy and a little labored at times, at other times he is fine and will still go for his daily walks and will eat his normal meal. The vet we saw last week wants us to record him when he has his breathing difficulties. I am wondering if some kind of steroid drug like prednisone or something would help. Our other dog is a 5 year old border collie and will at times seen to wheeze forcefully as if to clear her airway, this is the same thing Sparky has done of the past year or two, without any symptoms. They both will sometimes get caught eating cat litter/cat poop, not if we can help though, and we have a horse and 4 goats whose poop they have been caught eating on occasion, do you think they could pick up an infection from this behavior? The main thing we do not want Sparky to suffer. I know people can use inhalers and bronchi dilators and all that but I don't know about dogs, He seems quite bothered by this. He does have lumps under his skin about walnut size that do not seem to enlarge over time. If this problem is due to cancer wouldn't we be seeing dramatic symptoms like loss of appetite and inactivity? I will send you a picture of Sparky, Thank you Dr. Marie and God Bless.