Gum Color: The Two-Second Health Check Every Groomer Should Know

What if I told you could tell if a pet is healthy enough to groom in about two seconds? 

It’s true!

 It’s all in the gum color.

Let’s start with how to check. A word of caution, especially if this is a new client. A cone can protect you while still allowing the pet to growl and get a good look at the gums. If you groom aggressive pets or are looking to rehab such a pet, that is a whole set of skills not covered in this article, but you still need to know how gum color affects a pet.

What you want is bubble gum pink unless this breed has mottled gums. Mottled gums present as bubble gum pink with black markings. And while we can discuss what other gum color means, it is up to a veterinarian to make an actual diagnosis. Remember that gum color can change from one minute to the next, depending on the actual medical problem this pet is facing. Even if this pet presented with healthy gums upon check-in, a medical condition can change that. You also need to know when to stop a groom. The list of possibilities for each color is not exhaustive; it is just the most common reasons.

Red gums can indicate Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning. It’s not just an issue for mobile groomers with generators. Shops with faulty boilers can emit CO. You might notice CO symptoms for yourself before noticing pet symptoms. You’ll have headaches, muscle pain, and be very grumpy in addition to your red gums. Red gums can also indicate heatstroke, high blood pressure, toxicity, and shock.

“I took a pet first aid class on a Sunday, and while I had always checked senior pet’s gums, I never made it a practice to check every pet’s gums. She taught us how important that one step was, so on Monday morning, I began checking every pet’s gums. One of my regular Dobermans came for her monthly groom. She was a year and a half, and I lifted her lip only to see bright red gums with bleeding along the gumline. I told her owner to take her immediately to the vet. At the vet, it was found she had ingested a pound and a half of rat poison in the neighbor’s barn that morning. If I hadn’t checked her gums, she would have died in my tub that day. Checking her gums saved her life. -Anjie Coates

Think about this for a moment. That pet with red gums coming into your facility on a warm day may be in the early stages of heat stroke, and you haven’t even placed this pet in a crate.

Blue gums may indicate hypoxia (poor blood flow), collapsed trachea, hypothermia, breathing problems, pneumonia, choking, heart disease, low blood pressure, and toxicity. Prompt treatment can reverse some of the less severe conditions when treated immediately. My experience with blue gums was an older Maltese named Hope. The tongue and gums appeared blue, so I told the owner to bring them to the vet. Their tongue and gums went back to normal in a couple of hours but turned blue again a day later. The owner brought Hope back to the vet, where their gum color returned to normal before the vet saw her, and she died the following day from a collapsed trachea. This lesson emphasized the importance of checking color throughout the grooming as it can change quickly.

Yellow gums may indicate liver failure or severe red blood cell damage. Liver failure is an emergency. The liver filters out toxins. You may notice this pet has lost significant weight and is lethargic. In this condition, this pet is also prone to seizures.

Pale gums are white or light pink.  Many conditions include pale gums as a symptom, the most common being anemia, blood loss, shock, kidney disease, and pain response.

• Anemia is a drop in the number of red blood cells. It can lead to oxygen deprivation in the bloodstream and organs, including the liver, heart, spleen, and kidneys. You may also notice that this pet appears lethargic or has trouble breathing. 
• Blood loss can be caused by trauma or a severe parasite infestation. You may also notice bruising caused by fleas and ticks. 
• Shock is a sudden drop in blood flow through the body. The bloodstream is not transporting enough oxygen to organs and cells. 
• Pain response to any of the described conditions. This pet is also a bite risk to you. 
• Kidney disease is any condition that hinders the kidneys. The kidneys remove waste from the bloodstream. By the time symptoms appear, this pet has already lost 75% of its kidney function. You may also notice a poor-quality coat and bad breath. 
• Pain response to any of the described conditions. This pet is also a bite risk to you. 

Anything other than healthy gum color is not only a reason not to groom a pet, but it can also indicate a life-threatening condition that needs immediate veterinary treatment.