Pale gums in dogs means something is wrong I call him "the dog of my life." (But only because it seems unfair to my husband if I call Yogi "the love of my life.") And I came very close to losing him recently. During the ordeal I learned an important detail that all dog owners need to be aware of. Yogi is a 70-pound Border Collie mix, and one of the sweetest dogs I've ever known. When he had trouble jumping off the couch one night, I knew something was wrong. I took a look at his forepaws and thought he was favoring one, so I figured he might have twisted it. He would go up the stairs but wouldn't come back down (also making me think he didn't want to put weight on it). He seemed a little subdued, but otherwise okay. It was Saturday night around 9:00, and I didn't want to drag him into the car to sit at the emergency vet for a few hours if he just had a twisted ankle, so I decided to wait until morning to see how he was doing. In the morning he didn't eat all his breakfast, which concerned me, but still, I thought it might just be that he was uncomfortable. Later he became increasingly lethargic and began to sigh, so I knew it was not just an ankle sprain…something was really wrong. So my husband and I took him to the vet as quickly as we could. It wasn't his paw at all. Within the first couple of minutes of his examination, the vet checked Yogi's gums. They were very pale, white really - a sign of internal bleeding. An ultrasound revealed a small mass on his spleen, which had apparently torn. I'll spare you the full details except to say that Yogi had emergency surgery and he's doing much better. But if I'd known to check his gums at the first sign of distress, he'd have received the care he needed much, much sooner. Internal bleeding deprives the body of oxygen and can cause severe organ damage, brain damage, and, obviously, death. So catching it early is critical to getting the fullest recovery. We're so lucky that Yogi has bounced back. Please tell everyone you know with a dog about this simple check that could easily save their dog's life.
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