What Your Dog’s Gum Colour Is Telling You

Dog gums are more than just a cute feature under that lip curl. They’re one of the easiest ways to check if something’s off with your pet’s health. Knowing what healthy gums look and feel like means you can catch problems early.

One morning last week, my dog Sherlock had me panicking when he barely touched his breakfast. Instead of letting my brain jump to worse case scenarios, I remembered what I’d learned while working in Sri Lanka at WECare Worldwide, a veterinary hospital for street dogs. If I ever messaged my vet or nurse colleagues with a concern about my dogs, they’d always ask me to check their gums. 

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In a hospital environment, a TPR check would be done first, which looks at temperature, pulse and respiration rate. However, this isn’t as easy for us muggles to do at home, so a gum check is the next best thing. It’s one of the vital parameters that vets will look at (after a TPR), as a change in gum colour and feel can be caused by a number of different issues.

Read on to find out what different gum colours can mean, but remember that this info doesn’t replace calling your vet. They should be your first port of call when you suspect your dog’s unwell.