Noise when breathing.

[kingskettle]

I have two 11/12 year male leopards. One has recently (last week) started to make an audible noise when breathing. He has no discharge from his nostrils and is eating normally and active. Anyway, I took him to a vet on Saturday morning where he was xrayed and his lungs were healthy so no treatment was offered as he seems fine. What other reason could there be for the loud noises when breathing? We are in the south of Spain where it's very hot at the moment and they are both out all the time in an outside run, with shade shelter. Today it has rained for the first time since last December!

 

[Yvonne G]

He may have food or dirt stuck in his nostrils. You can get a small squirt bottle of sterile saline solution (I buy this in the pharmacy in the contact lens department) and firmly squirt a bit up each nostril. Don't worry about filling his lungs, because the nostrils end up in the roof of the mouth, not down his throat and into the lungs. Squirting with a bit of strength should force any obstruction into his mouth and clear the passage.

 

[wellington]

Maybe something stuck in a nostril or throat that's not really bothering him but making the noise?
Maybe if you could catch it on video and post it, we could tell better if it's a normal noise.

 

[kingskettle]

The problem seems to have righted itself and Julian is now breathing normally !!

 

[LeoTheTortoise]

Did it sound like a sort of an internal "pft, pft" noise? I think I may have heard the same thing yesterday in Leo.