[rachelkangg]

So I have a chihuahua-golden-lab dog, and he's around 8-9 years old.
Yesterday afternoon, he started having random sneeze attacks... like he would sneeze 7x in a row and then 4x or he wouldn't sneeze for a while, and then randomly sneeze here and there.
He rarely ever sneezes, so I'm taking this seriously
I looked up what it could be but the only thing that matches is foxtail...but the thing is, I looked around my backyard twice but we don't have that plant... but he sneezes too much at once for it to be a cold.
He also does have some nose mucus/snot, but no bleeding or anything. He also doesn't paw at his nose, which is another sign that he would have foxtail.
I seriously hope it's not foxtail, because I read it can kill dogs if it doesn't get treated
Does anyone know anything about this? Is it allergies? He's never sneezed like this before and I've had him for about 7 years....

We're not taking him to the vet yet, because I read that vets will sometimes charge insane amounts of money even though the dogs might have a simple cold or something...

 

[crock]

Hi there, You need to take your dog to the vet. Going to the internet to ask for a diagnosis by a strangers is not "taking it seriously" and having read somewhere that vets will charge an "insane amount of money" is no excuse for denying your dog medical attention.

Even if it's a cold (and sneezing isn't even a typical symptoms of dog with a cold, coughing is), your vet needs to be able to determine if he's at risk of secondary infection. If it's allergies (which is typically accompanied by itching), your vet can prescribe medication to reduce the inflammation or an antihistamine to make your dog more comfortable. If there is a foreign body in his nostrils, obviously it needs to be removed. He could also have a tumor up there, dental/oral problems going on, infections, etc. There's just too many possibilities--many serious--for you to not get him professionally evaluated. If money is an issue, you can apply for CareCredit.

Good luck. I hope it's something easily treatable and your dog feels better soon.

 

[Rain]

About the vet, if you take him after office hours then yes, you'll be charged the emergency fee. Around here that's usually around $150, but it'll vary from vet to vet and will also depend on where you live. Some vets are open on a Saturday so please call.

During regular office hours you should only be charged the office/exam fee, at my vet that's $45, but again it varies from vet to vet, region to region. The vet will do a physical examine on your dog, and then discuss treatment test, or further diagnostic test, with you before preforming them.

So during regular office hours, your initial cost will be relatively low. There are a lot of people on the internet that for some reason believe that the vet is just out to make money, and yes some are, but the majority are not, and most do try to keep cost reasonable so that people will get there pets the medical help that they may need.