What Are Nasal Mites In Dogs?

dog's noseWondering about nasal mites in dogs? I was too – check out everything I’ve learned!

When I heard in the dog park that one of my pup pals was being treated for nasal mites in dogs, I knew I had to do some research. To be completely honest, I didn’t even know what nasal mites were! I’m glad I’ve done my research, because I found a lot of information, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Let’s start with the basics

Nasal mites in dogs is a condition in which a mite will infect the nasal and paranasal passage of a canine. Want to know the scientific name for nasal mites? It is Pneumonyssoides caninum. Let’s see if you can say that five times fast. I certainly can’t!

Let’s just stop and take a minute to think about how gross this is. There could be tiny, itty-bitty, little bugs living in your dog’s nose. Now we all know how much I hate fleas and ticks, so I’m sure you can already guess that I’m prejudiced against mites as well!

How could my dog get nasal mites?

It’s unknown precisely how nasal mites in dogs are transmitted, but I’ve read two theories that seem to make sense.

The first is that nose-to-nose contact between dogs could easily transfer mites from one dog to another. It’s not likely you’ll know a dog has nasal mites unless you notice actual symptoms. In fact, the dog’s owner will probably not even know that their dog has nasal mites. This method of transmission makes it quite easy for dogs to share the mites quickly in great numbers.

The other way a dog may come into contact with nasal mites is from fleas, flies, and lice. These squirmy little suckers carry the mites that will then find a home in your pet’s nose. Gross.

What are the symptoms of nasal mites in dogs?

Violent sneezing is often the most prevalent sign that your dog may have nasal mites. Other possible symptoms include bleeding from the nose or even scratching of the nose. You may also notice some reverse sneezing if your dog is infected. Often, nasal mites in dogs go untreated because there are no symptoms, and your dog may not even be aware of the infestation.

How are nasal mites in dogs diagnosed?

If you suspect that your dog may be infected with nasal mites, my recommendation would be to bring them to their veterinarian. Once you’re there, the vet will perform a rhinoscopic examination. Other methods of diagnosis may be by examining the mucus or saliva of your dog under a microscope to see if there are any mites present.

If your dog is found to have nasal mites, he will be put on a medication that will treat the problem. The amount of time on the medication and dosage will be determined by the veterinarian.

Are nasal mites catchy?

Here’s the good news. If you’re a human, there’s no way you can catch your dog’s nasal mites. In fact, Pneumonyssoides caninum literally means “canine nasal mite.”  So you can stop itching your noses now.

If you do have multiple dogs and one of your pups is diagnosed with nasal mites, you may want to consider getting all dogs examined and even possibly treating them all for the infection. Dogs can very quickly and very easily pass mites between each other, and you wouldn’t want to treat one while another is suffering.

What do you know about nasal mites in dogs? Has your dog ever been diagnosed with them? Let us know what it was like in the comments!


Side note: Do you run a business in the pet industry? Would you like to drive more traffic and sales to your site through a search-optimized pet blog? Get in touch with my office-mates at Lantern Content Marketing!

About Napa 'ze Dog

My name is Napa and I'm the Lantern Content Marketing Adventure Company office dog. They create content for business blogs, so I do my part by blogging about pet stuff. My favorite topic is poop! Since you asked, I'm an F2B Miniature Goldendoodle. Everything else you want to know about me is right over here!

10 comments on “What Are Nasal Mites In Dogs?

  1. My dog had nasal mites and very bad breath, he also did the reverse sneezing and sneezing. Once treated he was fine and sweet breath again. He has now started to sneeze and reverse sneeze a lot again and has bad breath, smells like someone with a very heavy cold but a lot worse and I can hear him rattling when he breaths like he has a bunged up nose so we will be off to the vets again. Being a J R when he sneezes he often hits his nose on the floor which is not nice for him….

  2. My dog reverse sneezes, has very bad breath, and when she breaths she sounds congested. We had her on Benadryl and tha seemed to help the “allergies” we thought she had.
    It is the dead of winter in Michigan and her breathing problems have gotten worse, in fact the cold weather when she goes outside seems to bring on reverse sneezing and the rattling in her throat. The vet now thinks she has nasal mites.
    Our vet has her on revolution with treatment every two weeks for 6 weeks. She is also on Doxycycline one ML by mouth every twelve hours for 10 days. She has been on this regime since the 19th of Dec. and I think we are seeing some progress as the reverse sneezing is not as often as it has been.
    The dog is a small Papillon
     

    1. Any update on your dog? Just read this as I’ve been searching for anything to help figure out what’s going on with my min pins. My female started with a very stuffy nose. She then had an allergic reaction to something 2 days later where her whole face blew up. Then started reverse sneezing and a bad honking cough. Prednisone & Benadryl were given but symptoms got worse. Clavamox was then given and after a week her symptoms subsided but didn’t seem like it was the antibiotic that helped but who knows. THEN… My male started with a stuffy nose and now is reverse sneezing for last 2 weeks so bad, literally every time he gets up. He is also lip smacking a lot and licking the air. My female is also licking the air still…. This is driving me nuts!! I feel so bad I want them to get better. I’ve seen 5 diff vets who all just say “ehh nothing I’m worried about, but I can scope their nose for $4,000”. I’d really appreciate any info.
      Thank u

  3. My Golden has been sneezing and a runny nose for about 6 months and even had a mucous discharge and put her on an antibiotic and nothing helped. I then noticed one day some tiny mites on the floor under her nose and took her in asap. The Vet however diagnosed it as Mites but Insisted after reading about this that she has Nasal Mites. It’s worse when she comes in from outside (WI winter)sneezing starts and then the mites come out. She’s on Revolution to get rid of them. We’re almost to the second dose and their still active. What I’ve read is that you normally don’t see them. I’m concerned that she must have a bad case of them. Vet said to just stay on course with the Revolution.

  4. Goodness I wish I could leave up a photo here of what we are experiencing. I think these are nasal mites but there are very few photos online. Teeny tiny pin head sized white mites, however in our case, I am seeing them on my collies fur and face, and often times where he is laying. I’ve also seen them come out of his nose. If they are nasal mites, is it plausible that they would be retreating from the nasal cavity and coming out?

  5. Hi, I’m hoping that the posters where their dogs had nasal mites can provide me an update on what happened. I believe my Pug has them but we can’t see them. She has all the symptoms though… how long did they take to clear, did they go away completely, what was the treatment?

    1. There is a new pill called nexgard. You take just one pill and it kills all mites and flees. It’s proven to be very effective and also costs only 20.00.
      Thanks

  6. I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this site. I am hoping to view the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own blog now 😉

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