Sheltie Nasal Congestion

Question
We have a ten year old sheltie.  She developed nasal congestion,our vet thought it was allergies/heart condition had her on several med that didn't help and we wound up at a onocologist due to bleeding of the nasal pasage.  He did a biopsy which came back negative for cancer and fungus/mold.  He took her off all previous meds and has her on predisone for a month in decreasing doses to reduce any inflamations so he could possibly see what is going on.  After a week and a half of being on Predisone her congestion has come back (no bleeding ).  We are questioning whether it was a good idea to have put her on this med?  Since the biopsies came back negative what else could be causing this?

Answer
If she was not tested for tick-borne diseases I would have her tested for Lyme and Ehrlichia, which both could cause bleeding.  However, I would still be very concerned about cancer.  I would highly recommend getting her on immune boosting supplements such as Transfer Factor Canine Complete (www.4tf-pets.com/testimonials.htm) and feeding her an all-natural diet that is high in protein but low in carbohydrates...even some raw food if she will eat it.  Low carb diets are good to starve cancer cells.  Prairie makes a line of foods that would be beneficial www.naturesvariety.com

The Prednisone is a steroidal anti-inflammtory that is often used if there is auto-immune disease or severe inflammation, however, it can weaken the immune system and lead to secondary infections.  If it is not helping her, I would wean her off of it due to the side effects.

Best wishes,
Dr. Jennifer L. Fry
www.my4life.com/drfry