Although we find it very unpleasant, the consumption of feces is a fairly common behavior in some animals, including dogs, which can sometimes ingest their own stools or those of other animals. However, the fact that it is a habitual behavior does not mean that it is beneficial for the dog or that we should not learn to avoid it.
In this article on our site we analyze the reasons why a dog eats cat poop, we tell you about the risks that this behavior can have for your he alth and we explain what is the best way to prevent and prevent your four-legged friend from ingesting the cat's feces. Don't miss why does my dog eat cat poop!
Why is my dog eating cat poop?
The behavior of ingesting feces is called coprophagia and, when the excrement in question belongs to a species other than its own, we speak of interspecific coprophagia.
Coprophagia is considered a normal behavior in some animals and also in some stages of lifeof a specific species, as is the case of female dogs that, after giving birth, eat the feces of their puppies until they reach approximately ten weeks of age, to keep their environment.
However, when the ingestion of feces (whether their own or someone else's) becomes a repetitive and frequent behavior, it may be an indication that the dog is suffering from a physical or emotional problem. Some of the main reasons why a dog eats cat poop are the following:
- Exploratory Behavior: Puppies and adolescent dogs need to discover the world around them through their senses and that is why they are so curious and put anything in their mouths. At this age, the occasional ingestion of their own or someone else's feces is usually part of the normal exploratory behavior of dogs and, in general, they themselves reduce this behavior as they grow and learn.
- Boredom or lack of environmental stimulation: dogs need daily physical and mental stimulation, adapted, of course, to their state of he alth, age, character and race. If you leave your dog alone at home for a long time with nothing to do or you do not give him the opportunity to satisfy his natural behaviors through games, training sessions, quality walks, etc. he can get bored or stressed and develop unwanted behaviors, such as coprophagia. We leave you the following article on our site with 5 symptoms of a bored dog.
- Attention call or game: Dogs sometimes learn to perform specific behaviors to get our attention and thus initiate an interaction with us, even when such behaviors are undesirable to us. If you scold your furry for eating cat poop and still continue to do so, there is probably a failure in your communication and you are not understanding each other properly.
- Hunger or nutritional deficiency: As is evident, if your furry friend is hungry or his food is not of sufficient quality to satisfy his needs, it will seek to satisfy its appetite with whatever it finds, including cat feces. In this sense, a veterinary nutritionist can help you find the most appropriate and complete diet for your dog.
- Palatable taste: Although it may be difficult for us to understand, a very common reason why dogs eat cat poop is simply, because they find its intense smell attractive and they like its taste.
On some occasions, the behavior of coprophagia does not respond to a single reason, but to several. In this case, it is said that the cause of the problem is multifactorial and it often takes help from an ethologist or canine educator to identify each of the triggers of the problem. conduct and remedy it.
On the other hand, if the behavior appears suddenly or becomes increasingly insistent, it will also be necessary to make a visit to the vetto rule out any disorder at an organic level before starting behavior modification treatment.
Dangers of my dog eating cat poop
That your dog eats your cat on time should not pose any significant he alth problem, especially if you correctly comply with the deworming schedule. However, a pathological coprophagia that manifests itself frequently can entail certain risks.
These are the main dangers to which your furry friend is exposed by ingesting cat feces:
- Gastrointestinal ailments: If your dog ingests large quantities of cat feces, it is very likely that they feel unwell and cause pain in the stomach. stomach, apathy, vomiting and/or diarrhea. In most cases, dogs improve after a short time, but sometimes it is necessary to go to the vet and follow medical treatment for them to recover.
- Risk of parasitosis: cat droppings may contain parasites capable of making the dog that ingests them sick, especially if it is a puppy and does not yet have a mature immune system. This risk increases markedly when the dog consumes faeces from stray cats, while the risk of parasitosis decreases when the cat in question is domestic and he althy and correctly vaccinated and dewormed. You may also be interested in this other article on External parasites in dogs: types and control on our site.
- Intestinal Adhesion and Obstruction: if your furry friend eats the poop directly from your cat's litter box, he is not only ingesting the feces, it is also swallowing a certain amount of sand each time it does so. The accumulation of sand in the digestive tract could end up causing an intestinal obstruction and this, on many occasions, even requires surgery to solve. Fortunately, this risk is rare, as the dog would have to consume large amounts of sand. Find out more about intestinal obstruction in dogs: symptoms and treatment below.
In the face of any sign of discomfort or pain, it is best to see your vet quickly so that they can check your dog and prescribe the most appropriate treatment for their case. Now that you know the dangers, we tell you what to do so that my dog does not eat cat poop.
What to do if my dog eats cat poop?
Without a doubt, the best way to prevent your dog from taking any kind of risk from consuming cat poop is to prevent it from doing so, and to do so, here are some tips:
- Place the litter box in a place inaccessible to the dog: Placing your cat's litter box in a high place or in a room the one that only the feline can have access to prevents your dog from accessing the excrement. Another option is to use a closed or covered litter box, as long as it is comfortable for your cat.
- Clean the litter box often: Cats are very neat animals and appreciate that their litter box is always kept clean. In addition, removing feces on a daily basis reduces the chances that your dog can consume them. Using clumping litter will make cleaning easier, since you won't have to throw out all the litter and change it for another each time you clean it.
- Offer your dog environmental and social stimulation: to avoid boredom, be sure to do fun activities with your furry and leave him interactive toys or other types of stimuli at your disposal, especially when you are home alone. If the coprophagia is due to anxiety or stress, you will need to treat this first in order to solve the problem of consuming stool. Do not hesitate to take a look at the following article on the Types of toys for dogs.
- Offer him quality food: your veterinarian can identify if your furry has any nutritional deficiency that could be leading him to ingest feces. A complete and good quality diet is essential to keep your dog in good he alth and prevent behaviors such as coprophagia in some cases.
- Contact an ethologist or canine educator: many times it is not easy to find the cause of coprophagia, much less modify this behavior correctly. Therefore, if your furry friend seems obsessed with eating your cat's poop or, worse yet, eating excrement on the street, it is best to contact a professional who works in a respectful way with the animal to help you establish a plan. behavior modification appropriate to your specific case.
Never use physical punishment or harmful tools (such as shock or spike collars) to teach your dog not to eat cat poop. Punishment-based education generates many problems in the animal, especially on an emotional level, which can lead it to develop other more serious behavioral problems or worsen the ones it already has.
