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Grey tongue/mouth. U/D we lost him :-(

P

prettylupin

Wise Old Thumper
This might be a completely obvious question but one that when I think about it I am just not sure? Surely all 'well' mammals have nice pink gums and a pink tongue?

Mini's tongue is bluey/grey tonight, as are his gums. This immediately made me think he is either anemic or poorly oxygenated, or is this a normal pigmentation? Or can it be caused by certain foods, or a white bloom as we get when poorly? He is not in any respiratory distress, but yes he is currently in the recovery phase of GI stasis - recovering I hope, but still quite poorly in himself and subdued. I only noticed his tongue/gum colour on giving him oral fluids which is he is taking well and is well hydrated due to copious amounts of dilute urine. His tongue and gums were, according to my husband earlier this evening, normally pink.

Any ideas? Or it could just be the light or my eyesight I suppose, but it did seem very grey. Hmmm :?
 
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So it is 5am and I am at the emergency vets waiting whilst they get a line in to Mini for fluids and admission. Would appreciate some vibes if any spare :cry:
 
Oh dear :( Sending all possible healing vibes with great speed your way!
Does the vet say what it might be?
Thinking of you and sending (((((((((hugs))))))) xxxx
 
Oh gosh PL, I'm sorry I missed this :cry:

Is he in due to his gut problems, or is it seeming they might be secondary to something else?

I must say that Ive never seen a grey tongue/mouth on any of my lot :( Sending tons and tons of vibes xxxxxxx
 
Thank u so much everyone. Very sadly whilst still in the waiting room at 6am this morning the vet called me out the back to come quickly for consent to euthanase. He had collapsed and started fitting and was flat out on an oxygen mask. I of course consented immediately and stroked him at the end. He already had a line in. Jane thank u for your observations. Vet felt something serious underlying and suspected he was in and out of circulatory failure. He had swelling around his throat and his heart was struggling. It was just so sudden. Last night at 11pm he was perky and self feeding a little and self drinking so wanted to give him a bit of peace. In hindsight wish we had got up before 4 and also that we had fed him by syringe as his guts were empty on examination, but she said we had done everything we could. Vet was lovely and put her arm around me for ages. The grey tongue makes sense. It was just all so sudden. He gad no congestion in his chest and no breathing difficulties. We are not having pm done. Gutted :cry: he was an absolute sweetheart. We will miss him immensely. In just 6 months he had become such a huge part of our family. Our little boy adored him :cry:
 
'Hindsight is a wonderful thing' but in reality, everyone would be rushing their buns to the vets every night for no good reason. You did everything you could, and more than most. With his problems, I really doubt any earlier intervention would have made any difference. So very sorry for your loss and your pain now xx
 
I am so sorry to read such a sad update.

I have only seen the blue/grey gums and tongue with one rabbit we had and he was suffering from heart disease. In his case though it was congenital. From my one experience when the gum and tongue lose their colour in this manner it suggests hypoxia. In our case the veins in the ears also presented as a dark red, almost purple colour.

I am really sorry you did not get longer with Mini after the sadness of Nino, particularly as your little boy had taken so much to him.:cry:
 
prettylupin said:
Thank u so much everyone. Very sadly whilst still in the waiting room at 6am this morning the vet called me out the back to come quickly for consent to euthanase. He had collapsed and started fitting and was flat out on an oxygen mask. I of course consented immediately and stroked him at the end. He already had a line in. Jane thank u for your observations. Vet felt something serious underlying and suspected he was in and out of circulatory failure. He had swelling around his throat and his heart was struggling. It was just so sudden. Last night at 11pm he was perky and self feeding a little and self drinking so wanted to give him a bit of peace. In hindsight wish we had got up before 4 and also that we had fed him by syringe as his guts were empty on examination, but she said we had done everything we could. Vet was lovely and put her arm around me for ages. The grey tongue makes sense. It was just all so sudden. He gad no congestion in his chest and no breathing difficulties. We are not having pm done. Gutted :cry: he was an absolute sweetheart. We will miss him immensely. In just 6 months he had become such a huge part of our family. Our little boy adored him :cry:
Click to expand...

When Morse collapsed it was exactly as you describe and the 'grey lips and tongue' was one of the first things I noticed when trying to help him. It was pure luck that Morse did not die. I did NOT bundle him into the car and dash to the Vets. Sometimes doing that is NOT the right thing. You obviously did everything possible to help him and I am just so sorry that he did not make it :cry:

RIP Mini xx
 
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