I have a 9+ yr old female who has been acting a little "distant" during the course of the past few days. Did not think anything of it until I looked at her gums...black. Are they supposed to be black? Any ideas? She will be going to vet in morning.
Thanks.
Is she a black bitch? It's not uncommon for a black Labrador to have black gums....Any other symtoms? Is she spayed? Any loss of appetite, increased thirst, distended abdomin, elevated temp, any change in respiration?
Black dogs do have black pigment on their gums, so that would not be of concern (the opposite, however, is not true; pale or white gums is always a big sign of something wrong and needs immediate veterinary attention).
Of more concern is an oldster that is withdrawing. This change in behavior, if it is not due to something major going on in her environment, can signal a metabolic disease. Other symptoms that Melody was saying are important to tell your vet if you are noticing any of these.
Hope she is fine and just going through a behavioral change for some reason, but good that you are being proactive and taking her to the vet. Something's changed, and you do need to get to the bottom of it.
Best of luck!
If all those tests come back normal have her eyes checked, she may have been losing her sight and it's now really affecting her. One of our girls seemed a bit distant and like an airhead and well, senile for lack of a better description. We had her checked by an Opth, and it turned out she had gone mostly blind. Once we were able to make changes for her and give her extra cues she was like a new dog!
