Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Madison eating her poo??

This is pretty disgusting but i have caught Madison eating her poos a few times. Does anyone know why she would do this - i will check with the vet next time i take her for her checkup.. She use to do this when she was a pup!! But she is 8 now. She has been drug free for about 2 weeks now and just seems more like her old self everyday. She has so much enegy that she tires me and the other younger dogs out.. And wakes up so early and so spritly - wish she would just sleep in a bit longer!! Its great to see her so well again. Samantha

Samantha Perth Australia

Hi Samantha, We had the exact same problem with Ethel once she had started to recover from IMHA. The prednisone makes them extremely hungry, and she had some digestive problems that kept all of her food from getting properly digested. It seemed to help to add digestive enzymes to her food. We used an over-the-counter product, but there are prescription enzymatic supplements available too that others on the board can tell you more about. We had a good three or four months where we had to keep a very close eye on her outside to keep her from doing exactly what you're describing for Madison; we almost had to pick her up immediately after she finished to keep her from just immediately eating it. She did it less and less as her pred was cut back, eventually stopping and she hasn't done it again since being off her meds.

Brian Vermont

she may be simply deficient in a particular nutrient and this is a dog's way to resolve that ugh. a home made diet may help here a great deal. i love mary strauss's website. http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html if you read everything on this page you will be an expert. look towards bottom of page for making a balanced home made diet. excellent recpies and easy patrice

Patrice NYS

Patrice, I have a friend who's dog does the same thing and we had lots of discussions about it. I know that it is thought that a lack of certain nutrients could cause this. What I don't understand is, if the dog does not get the nutrients from the food, it certainly does not get it from the poop. So why would nature point the dog that way? Mother dogs eat the puppies poop to clean up too. I tend to think it could also be a behavioral issue. I have also seen certain breeds to be more interested in their own poop.....hmmmm Kahlu finds human excrements very yummy. Can you imagine how I keep an eye on HIM! Horse manure I can live with, but I also discourage it of course. He is definitely more interested in stuff like that since he has been on medication and his diet has never been as good as it is now. In the whole picture of things, this is really a small problem!:) Best wishes, Brigitte & Kahlu

Brigitte BC Canada

Oh dear! i just thought about my post and what people are thinking.... does this woman live in a cave or igloo with her poodle? Where in the world does he find human poop?? believe it or not, we walk isolated trails and beaches, where some people do that..... Honest we have indoor plumbing in Canada! :) Brigitte

Brigitte BC Canada

the dogs ancestor the wolf has always found the predigested food of the intestines of prey to be very tasty. some experts, not all, believe that this makes dogs omnivore rather than carnivore. raw diet developed from this concept. small amts of veggies ground up finely plus eggs, muscle meats simulates the predigested offal in the intestine of prey. adding raw meaty bones completes the meal. think of a dog killing and eating a small rabbit (at this cassie's ears perk up, RABBIT!) in it's entirety. and that would include the poop. there is plenty of nutrition available in poop. you are right that it can be behavioral, but a new interest in poop by a previously ill dog points to a nutritional deficiency. the flora of the intestine may be out of balance, this leads to digestive disease and deficiency, esp in b12 vit, folic acid, and iron. these must be addressed as they contribute to the blood making process significantly. supplementing with vit by mouth does not necessarily work in these cases. treatment is usually with metrondiazole. cassie used to lick bird poop off the sidewalk when she was a puppy to get the extra 3 calories. she is my air dog. this is a dog that can gain weight licking the air. she does this when i am cooking. she is about 5 lbs overweight but i am afraid to cut her calories as she run away from home to find house where dog food is out all day. vbg patrice

Patrice NYS

My dog Calypso also does this. It started even before she got sick with IMHA and started on prednisone. The vet said she could recommended a couple of things, but we just never got around to it because the next day she got sick. But a friend has a dog that eats poop and she uses a food flavoring called ACCENT, it is a flavor enhancer and sold in the spice isle of the grocery store. You sprinkle on the dogs food and it stops them from eating it. But it will not stop them from eating the poop of others, but maybe it will help break the habit.

Wendi Ohio

from the yahoo group k9nutrition, pineapple added to food is popular way to discourage it in learned habitual cases. many of these forum members report the behavior stopped completely when switching to a raw diet. research Cophragia. patrice

Patrice NYS

Patrice, as always, you have given a well researched response! I always learn so much from you. Thanks! I have bookmarked the dogfood site. I hope your arm is healing quickly! Brigitte & Kahlu

Brigitte BC Canada

Hi all, Thanks for all the great info... I will look at adding some things to her food to see if this stops her doing it. I just makes me feel sick, i try and watch her now and stop it as soon as she has gone but during the day when i am not there she can eat hers and the other dogs with out me knowing - yucky!!! Madison has had 2 litters of pups and she did eat all there poos.. Brigitte glad you cleared that up i was wondering where human poos could be found :O) Thanks Patrice for the receipes i will cook some up over the weekend. I really appreciate all your help. Samantha & Madison(poo eater)

Samantha Perth Australia

Holly's sister, Snitzell, a chihuahua, has done this since she was a baby. In fact when we adopted her, they were pulled from the family becaused they were starved, so that is all they knew to eat their own poop. She is now 8 years old and still does it. Recently tried the Accent and it does work, because she would mainly eat her own or Holly's so just sprinkled a little in each of the food and stopped her for the moment. But really have to watch her, they both love bird poop, UGH! Linda

Linda Sapphire

This thread was discussed between 05/08/2009 and 06/08/2009

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