Most diseases that occur in the nasal cavity have the ability to move through these canals into the frontal sinuses. When the sinuses become involved and develop inflammation, this is called sinusitis. Chronic nasal discharge may result from several disorders involving the sinuses and nasal cavity. There are several diagnostic tests that should be done for a cat with a chronic nasal discharge. A blood profile will often detect underlying diseases that can contribute to a nasal disease.
Special positions are necessary to view the nasal cavity and frontal sinuses.
These require sedation or a short-acting anesthetic. Nasal flush and biopsy are diagnostic procedures used to collect material from deep within the nasal cavity. Although these procedures are not particularly traumatic to the cat, anesthesia is required, so they are usually done in conjunction with radiographs. This allows more than one procedure to be done while the cat is under anesthesia. Foreign objects within the nasal passage can sometimes be detected with radiographs.