Little Stinker Had A Hairball!!
 

Last night gone for two hrs w/ friends and dinner we arrive home to greet the fur kids. Ransom is removed from his play kennel and I begin to notice him lick obsessively and experience gagging reflexes. :eek:

I pick him up and begin checking him over. He's breathing fine, not shaking, wanting to play, etc. He stops this licking and gagging but then shortley starts up again. I begin to mentally go through my check list. Hypoglycemia? No. Chocking? No. Collapsed Trachea? No. Did he get into any sort of poison that I could think of like cleaners on the floor or such? No. I open his mouth and see nothing, no blockage, no loose teeth or anything????

I'm totally lost at this point and thought Id try some water and a soft treat. Ransom drinks and eats his treat just fine. He begins his licking and gagging again.

I'm like "what the heck is going on here?" My husband says "get on YT and ask". Im telling him I don't have time and that we need to head to emergency that I'm not taking any chances. We no sooner get half way to the vet and Ransom is fine. Totally fine. :confused:

Come home and he starts licking and gagging again then stops and never started up again. So after gathering gobs of blankets and pillows I decide to bunk with Ransom for the night. I'm up each hour checking on him and he sleeps peacefully w/out a problem.

Well...this morning everything seems great, Ransom is fine. Then oh no!! He begins his licking and gagging again. I immediately call my vet and they can work us in in a couple hours.

So, I decide to bath Ransom and get him cleaned up for his vet visit. As I'm grooming him I notice he has this long stream of hair that was under his chin by his lips. It was wet and matted to the size of a cotton swab thickness. It was nasty and there was no way to unmatt this soggy mess. I soon realized he had this string of matted hair stuck probably on the roof of his mouth leading down to his throat. It wasn't much at all, but just enough to make him "lick and continue his gagging reflex".

I can't tell you how many times I looked into his mouth and didn't even notice this hair, it was just too thin to see. Still can't figure out how I even missed it???

I cut the small glob of hair and he's been great ever since. WOW! What a day. :rolleyes: Oh, and I cancelled our vet visit too. :p

**sorry this story is so long**

Aw poor Ranson! I am glad you discovered what it was. When I was reading your post about all his licking I was afraid he may have allergies. I have one with allergies and its no picnic. I am glad you discovered it was just a hairball.

:confused: How did he get a hairball? :confused:

Awwwww...Poor little Ransom!! I bet he gave you quite a scare. That's happened to Miko before, and it scared me too. I'm so glad it was just a hairball!! hehe. What a good mommy, you sat with him all night to make sure he was okay :) Good job :)

Thanks for sharing the story so if this happens to one of mine I will be sure to check for the "hairball". How scary...glad it all worked out. :)

Have you ever seen a young girl w/ long hair chew/suck on a strand(s) of her hair? Well, this is what Ransom did. The hair along his mouth in the corner, and I guess a few strands got sucked into his mouth while we were gone. He must have been playing w/ his toy or ?? From what it seemed he was unable to spit those strands of hair back out. Those strands eventually matted and got stuck on the roof of his mouth and lead down to his throat.

Probably driving him absolutley crazy too! This is what caused the licking and the gagging reflex. He was trying to spit it out of his mouth.

I still don't know how I didn't see it, but the strand was pretty thin and I was looking at his teeth and throat. Never occured to me to look on the roof of his mouth? I dunno? But I sure missed it big time.

:eek: I am soooo sorry!! We had that happen with Toto a long time ago & I should have posted about it! Hers was maybe a dozen long hairs but had a mat [like a Q-tip] at the end! It was scarry but fortunately I swept her mouth as soon as she began gagging & found it. And you're right, it was nasty! We have noticed since then that she gets her chest hair in her mouth a lot & we are constantly pulling it out.

I am so thankful that Ransom was OK and that's all it was! I guess some things that happen to our babies seem unimportant, but could very well be useful. I will pay closer attention! ;)

Oh the chewing hair...Ransom, I am glad you are all better, your mommy was pretty worried.

Poor little Ransom! So glad he's doing better! What a great mommy you are. I bet you were worried all night. Please give Ransom a YT hug!
Hope you have a wonderful day!!! :) :) :) :)
(((((((Ransom)))))))

Awww.. He looks like a happy camper now :)