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My 14 year old Belgian Malinois developed a brown crusty nose a few months ago. At first I thought it was coming out of the nostrils, but now that the crusty stuff is forming also on top, I think whatever is coming out of the skin of her nose. She doesn't act sick, but doesn't want to eat.
She will eat baked chicken, and the raw hearts and gizzards & chicken necks, that I give her, but not the dog food.
I did take her to the vet. $450 for exam including the supplement. The nose exam came back, No bacteria, no fungus, no mites. Her lymph nodes are enlarged as well as her liver. THey gave a month's supply of S-Adenysilmethionine +Silibin.($82!) I can get twice as much at the health food store for for half the price.
She's had 18 of them and no real improvement.
I googled "brown crusty nose", but there was nothing helpful. Many of the answers say - "take the dog to the vet". So what do you do when the vet doesn't know what it is?
You can open a Vit. E capsule and gently rub it in the rough part - I use Natural Dog Snout Soother which also helps - even a little vaseline (from a jar or squeeze tube for lips (for people)) would prob. work well and be cheaper - we dont use it every day but in the summer when their noses tend to dry and also a bit in the winter when it's dry inside. They're not thrilled w/ it but I use one of those compressed cotton balls and after a minute or 2, they look 100% better. When you rub it in, it's amazing the black gunk that comes off their nose - yuck!
Bag Balm does work wonders. I have heard of crusty ears, but never a crusty nose. You may try supplementing with NuVet tablets. It is a multi-vitamin for dogs that mine believe are treats and they go crazy for them. It may be the combination of the hot weather and maybe a vitamin deficiency that is causing this. What are you feeding? To me, it almost sounds like Lymphoma. The swollen Lymph Nodes definitely are a huge concern and the loss of appetite.
Do you have a veterinary school nearby? If so, getting a referral if they have a cancer center would be absolutely necessary. Or at least a specialist. Many general vets just don't have the necessary experience to help. One of our neighbors had a yorkie with lymphoma and she went through Chemo and did well. Here is more info: College of Veterinary Medicine
Definitely keeping you and your pup in our thoughts and prayers. Sending tons of healing thoughts! Please keep us posted!
What did the vet. diagnose as the problem? Did he/she give a reason for the enlarged liver and lymph nodes?
If your dog does not want to eat normally it is indeed acting sick.
Is your dog hydrated or dehydrated? At fourteen it could be anything. You need to find out what it is because if there is any chance of kidney failure you don't want to be feeding your old dog a high protien diet.
If it is lymphoma and you want to treat it must be addressed ASAP! Most dogs only have a few months if they are not treated from the first time syptomes are noticed.
I'd get a second opinion from another vet, as soon as possible.
Please have them check your dogs calcium level. High calcium can indicate lymphoma in a dog, especially when your dog already has enlarged lymph nodes.
If your dogs liver is enlarged, the last thing you want to do is give it baked chicken, raw hearts, gizzards & chicken necks. Dogs with enlarged livers shouldn't be given high protein foods and should be placed immediately on a special low protein diet.
Thanks for the replies.
I have always fed her premium foods, like Canidae, Natural Balance, TAste of the Wild, etc.
If I don't give her the chicken, she won't eat at all. She tells me when stuff is boiling on the stove and even when its done. She gets a cookie for this and she still eats those. She may or may not eat rice or potatoes.
I'm also giving her some Beta Glucan and Flax OIl. I've put a small amount of baking soda in her water. She drinks a lot of water. I tried putting Essiac into the cooking mix of the chicken backs, but she didn't like that.
The is brown crusty stuff does come off, but then in a day or so it is right back.
Yes, I'm afraid it could be a form of cancer. One thing the vet didn't do was to examine the brown crusty stuff itself. I may ask them to do that.
Thanks for the replies.
I have always fed her premium foods, like Canidae, Natural Balance, TAste of the Wild, etc.
If I don't give her the chicken, she won't eat at all. She tells me when stuff is boiling on the stove and even when its done. She gets a cookie for this and she still eats those. She may or may not eat rice or potatoes.
I'm also giving her some Beta Glucan and Flax OIl. I've put a small amount of baking soda in her water. She drinks a lot of water. I tried putting Essiac into the cooking mix of the chicken backs, but she didn't like that.
The is brown crusty stuff does come off, but then in a day or so it is right back.
Yes, I'm afraid it could be a form of cancer. One thing the vet didn't do was to examine the brown crusty stuff itself. I may ask them to do that.
It isn't the brown crusty stuff that needs to be examined. It is the lymph nodes, etc. Dry noses are usually a side effect of something more serious in both cats and dogs. I would find a different vet - if any of my animals had swollen lymph nodes, you can bet they would be doing bloodwork, X-Rays and Ultrasounds. But, they deal with a lot of cancer cases so they know what the classic signs are. It isn't an insult to your regular vet if you get a second opinion, if they take it that way, they aren't a good vet. They should be just as invested in finding what is going on as quickly as possible. Many consult with others on their odd cases. Ours has no qualms about contacting our local vet school hospitals because they have seen about everything. I don't mean to scare you, but this is more than just a dry nose...
The nose itself is still moist & cool where the crusty stuff isn't.
The vet did the blood work and exrays, & ultrasound.
The only irregularity in the blood work was the liver enzymes.
They exrayed her head and nothing was amiss there.
I even thought of Morgellons, as the brown stuff seems to have hair in it.
But the nose isn't raw or sore or itchy. It doesn't seem to bother her at all.
I guess this is one of those new emerging diseases. We will likely see more of it in the future, sorry to say.
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