Have they checked her for throat issues?
Have they done a rhinoscope exam of the nasal area?
Are you using liquid Benadryl?
Her throat has been x rayed and checked but nothing has been found. It really sounds like something in her nasal passage. The noise is almost a whistle. She has not had a rhinoscope and no one has mentioned it. I brought her to LSU vet school, they did more x rays and put her on benadryl. Mentioned a CT scan but nothing else. I have tried the alcohol free but she still hates it.
Do most vets do the rhinoscope?
I was wondering if she had been checked for laryngeal paralysis which you can read about here
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/laryngeal_paralysis.html
The advantage of a rhinoscope is the tissue in the nose can be examined and samples taken if need be to check for fungal or bacterial infection, for a foreign inhaled item causing a problem, or for cancer.
The CT scan gives you a look at the whole tissue area but no samples so you can see a 'wrong' look but not always know the cause exactly.
The rhinoscope is a pretty specialized tool and people who use it have to have the training. You can read about rhinoscopy here
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=11009&O=Generic
Neither test is cheap and which is best may be a toss up.
With the Benadryl how about buying the tablet form? This can be found as a generic, its usually 25mg dose per tablet and you can hide it in a bit of bread or something else she likes. The liquid tastes awful and many dogs can spit it back faster than you can put it in!
Hope this helps you!
Good insight on nasal issue. What about keeping weight on older dogs.
Its hard to do if there is a health issue causing it and with her not doing well with fats many typical things are not safe for you.
You can see if she does OK with NutriCal a sticky supplement found in most pet supply stores which is high calorie in every dose.
You might go to a non senior food with more protein in it. Many senior foods are mostly fillers. Check the first 10 ingredients on the food you use.
Then see if a food like Canidae Platinum
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/platinum/dry.html
or Wellness fish and potato
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_wellness_dry_super5mix_complete_health_fish_sweet_potato.html
or a Blue Buffalo food
http://www.bluebuff.com/products/dogs/index.shtml
might work for her. If you make any changes do it slowly adding a little more new food each meal.
I meant to give you this nose site earlier
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/nasal.aspx
it has a good picture of how complicate it is inside a dog nose.
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30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics