# Bloody annointing...?



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Lily's having problems again... To start off, she's not been eating well again for over a week now. Still eats all her mealies and wet cat food meat, but has been off her kibble. I checked the bags in the freezer and realized her favorite kibble (Solid Gold for cats) is due to be replaced, so I got a new bag, wondering if that was the cause of her not eating her kibble. She's had the new bag of kibble for two nights now and it's made no difference. She ate 3 kibble Tuesday night and 5 kibble last night (along with her mealies and meat).

Tonight, I was getting her food all set up, and put half of her kibble into a separate bowl and dampened it with water. Since today's Thanksgiving and we had leftover turkey, I thought I'd give her some of that (meat from the middle with no seasoning on it) instead of her usual meat (from a Wellness Healthy Indulgence pack). She was a bit suspicious of the new meat at first, but then gave in and started trying it. After a couple bites, she started to annoint, which I wasn't too surprised at. However I realized after the foamy spit started showing at the sides of her mouth...it was red. Bright red. I went to get her out again which startled her back into her igloo, where some of the spit got wiped onto her blankey. I don't think turkey would make her spit turn that color, so I'm afraid that it might have been blood...I took some pictures of the spot on the blankey to post. I tried getting a look into her mouth, but she wouldn't open it enough for me to see the inside. I could see her teeth and gums alright, and they looked fine, no blood on them.

(Links so you can view the bigger pictures and see them better)
Without flash
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt13 ... C04517.jpg

With flash
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt13 ... C04518.jpg

Has anyone else experienced this? Could it have just been the turkey, for some odd reason? Does the spot look like it could be blood? I think I'm going to call tomorrow for a vet appointment, and depending on how much (and what) she eats tonight, I'll try to get it for tomorrow or for early next week, if I can. If she ignores her non-moistened kibble again tonight, I'll probably try to see if I can possibly get her in tomorrow, but I'm not sure if her vet will be there, with the holiday weekend.


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## CourtneyFaye (Jul 31, 2011)

I have never seen this before but I don't really think it could be from the turkey. Did you check her tongue also? Maybe she cut her tongue on a quill while annoiting? Just throwing ideas out there, I hope she is ok!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yeah, I didn't see any bright red on her tongue anywhere, though it was hard to get a glimpse. I also watched her the whole time she was annointing before I noticed the red and she hadn't even touched her quills before then... Thanks for the ideas, though, and the good wishes!


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Sorry to hear what's going on I know it must be so scary for you  It does look like blood to me too. Maybe it's a tooth issue with her being off her kibble and focusing more on her wet food. There's always a chance too that her tongue got cut in the process of anointing. I hope it ends up being something really easily remedied. Sending hugs to you both, keep us updated on how little Lily is doing.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Awww poor Lily. Maybe she had a loose tooth? Hence the lack of eating and when she tried the turkey, the chewing made it come out completely, hence the blood. Though it probably would be good to get her mouth checked out either way, just because....... Well..... I'm sure you've already thought of the worst it could be. 
*hugs* hoping it's just a tooth thing and that she'll be back to eating normally again.


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## newfie_nurse (Apr 28, 2011)

The only thing I could think of when I read your posting was maybe a bad tooth.
It would explain the aversion to kibble, and why she is taking soft mealies and meat and also the blood if one of her teeth were bad at the time, or she has a cut gum or something

GOOD LUCK i hope u find out soon


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Well, I came home and went straight up to check on her - mealies and turkey all gone, but only 3 kibble eaten (2 of the dry and 1 dampened) and no poop on the wheel. I called and got an appointment for her for 1:30 today. I'm still hoping that it's nothing and I'm worrying for nothing, but if it is, I'm going to feel bad now because the vet's completely overbooked for today.  I'll update after we get home. Thank you all for the hugs and thoughts!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Good luck at the vet. The first thought I had was a loose tooth. If she has a tooth that is loose and causing her pain it could cause both the not wanting to crunch kibble and the blood. I saw blood a couple of times with Cooper when he was losing his teeth. First time I saw blood, he spit a tooth out in my hand.

Poor Lily she's been through a lot lately. Hopefully you do end up feeling bad for taking up some of Doc's time... then at least it will be something simple.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I hope everything goes well for Lily. 
It's great that you pay attention & know when something's not right. Hopefully it's something simple that is corrected easily.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just got back from the vet with the princess settled back in bed.  

Dr. Nolan took a quick look at her teeth and gums on the outside while she was on the exam table, but like me, couldn't see much. Knowing that there'd been blood last night, he wanted to do the same thing I wanted to - put her under a bit of anesthesia to make sure there were no growths or anything. So we took her back and she was a good girl like always, not trying to get out of the little gas funnel, but just kind of looking around like "So...what's going on now?" :lol: She always seems to take things in stride, never throwing huge hissy fits (unless you try putting lanolin on her ears!) Once he could check her mouth, he took a look around and...Nothing! She's missing one back molar, but he said the area where it had been looked too clean for it to have come out last night, so it probably happened a little while ago. The gum had receded a tiny bit around one or two other teeth, but none were loose and they all looked healthy. Best of all, NO GROWTHS!  That was what both I and Dr. Nolan had been expecting and it was such a huge relief that he didn't see anything. So...We were left with just figuring that a small cut or crack someplace in her mouth caused the blood, and it'd already healed up by today. She woke up pretty well from the anesthesia, trying to run around right away while I kept her from falling over with my hands. I got some anti-inflammatory meds to give her for a few days to see if that helps make her mouth feel better and encourages her to eat a bit more. I think I'm going to give her some baby food with her WHI meat so if she still doesn't want to eat kibble, at least she's getting a little more than chicken and mealworms. I'm so glad I got her in and checked out so at least now I'm not freaking out all weekend. *sigh of relief*


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Wonderful news!!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Oh boy, I was really starting to feel nauseous as I was reading through the posts. But YES for no growths! 

I hope she starts eating her kibble again. Have you tried grinding some kibble up and putting it in the wet/moist foods? Big hugs to Lily. Poor baby!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

YAY for good news.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Yay!!!! I was so worried all day, I kept sneaking out my phone during school and checking


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks guys!  It's really so nice to have other people that understand how worried I get about something like this. I checked on her a bit ago and got her normal grumpy "Go away, Mom, I'm sleeping!" huff. :lol: I thought about getting her out for snuggles, but figured I'd let her rest in bed instead, after her rough day. Hanhan, that's a great idea, thank you! I'll give that a try tonight in case she's still iffy on the kibble. I'm still so relieved...I was imagining the worst the whole way to the vet's today.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just a little positive update...

Lily finally ate halfway decent last night!  It was still only about half as much kibble as her usual amount (7 kibble, in addition to 12 mealies and about a tablespoon of baby food and Wellness meat), but it's more kibble than she's eaten in a week. I'm not sure if it's due to feeling better or the flaxseed oil I put on her kibble, but either way I'm a happy mommy! There's no oil on her food tonight, so we'll see if she gives a repeat performance, or eats less again...Fingers crossed!

Also, Hanhan, I did try the crushing kibble idea, and she still ate all of the baby food with the kibble crushed in, but didn't eat any regular kibble that night, so I haven't tried again yet. I don't want her to give up regular kibble completely if we can avoid it...her teeth are still pearly white and I'm hoping they stay that way!


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

It's so good that she ate a little better. I hope she doesn't decide to completely give up on her kibble!

Sometimes trickery is the best approach when we want our stubborn hogs to do something they don't want to :lol:


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