I have noticed in the past week that Sherman, who is 2, has an unpleasant smell to him. Tonight, as he was laying next to me chewing on a nylabone, I noticed the smell was coming from his mouth.

Upon opening his mouth, I discovered that his gums are a very dark pink/brown near the teeth on top and bottom. The rest of his gums are a healthy pink. Gum disease comes to mind, but I can't find any pictures online that look like his gums. And he seems young for that?

He eats Nature's Variety dry food. And he is acting perfectly fine.

I already have an appointment for the vet on Monday to get a health certificate issued before a hunting trip to South Dakota. Can this wait until Monday, or should I call and try to get him in tomorrow morning?

Thanks!

Valerie

Hello Valerie,
Dogs that young can have dental disease. It all depends on the dog and genetics how there teeth will be as they get older. If there is a smell and you are seening alot of brown then it sounds like tarter is forming and you are smelling the bacteria in his mouth. It can wait for monday. If the gums ever are white or pale pink or bright red that is cause for alarm and a trip to the vet is needed. Brown not so much.

Not to alarm you, but make sure there is no bleeding of the guns. Even a trace amount that is hard see as it will get injested into their system. This can be the very first sign of immune mediated thrombocytopenia. ( destruction of blood platlets) This can end up being an immune problem or a sign that your dog could have been bitten by at tick and now needs to be treated. Tick titers will be used to determine this.

Again this is not to alarm you, however this is the very first sign i had with Widgeon. It did start out with simply bad!! breath. She did succumb to the disease.

JoAnn and John,

Thanks for the information.

John, I don't see any blood in his mouth and he has been very patient about letting me get in there and explore. But I will ask the vet about that possibility.

We'll see what Monday brings. Hopefully it doesn't interfere with his trip to South Dakota. He needs to be reminded what a pheasant looks like! Bird numbers are very low around here this year.

Valerie

Well, the vet thinks the color of Sherman's gums is his natural color. She said his gums and teeth look healthy. I can't say that I have ever paid close attention to his gums, but the color does not seem natural to me. However, his breath smells normal now.

And Sherman apparently has a ear infection. I don't know if that could have anything to do with it.

I am going to try to post pictures that I took today of Sherman's gums. Let me know if these gums look normal to you. I haven't posted a pic in a message before, so I might not get it right on the first try!

Gums look normal and beautiful teeth. I wouldn't worry. If he had a yeast infection in his ears you could get a nasty yeast smell coming from the ears. At least you took him in and they caught the ear infection.

Take care,