As heard on WICC this morning by Dr. Claudia Giuliani. WHY DO DOGS EAT DIRT AND OTHER GROSS THINGS? Dogs will be dogs, wont they? unfortunately, there is no rhyme or reason to why your dog eats certain things, like used tissue or tampons from the bathroom trash, compost or even moldy garbage. Most of the time, this is due to the strange smells that tempt them, their curious nature and boredom. The safest things that you can do. - Keep trash stored in closed pantry closets or out of reach. - Dump your trash frequently to avoid tempting your dog. - If you have a motivated Labrador Retriever or a chow hound, crate train your dog while you are gone during the day to avoid accidental poisoning. - Make sure you have pet-proofed (or child-proofed) your house. While ingesting a used tissue is directly harmful, we still want to minimize your dogs chances of getting into things (some objects will get stuck in the stomach and intestines requiring abdominal surgery). What is it about eating dirt??? Once in awhile, we will see dogs eating dirt. While dirt doesnt get stuck in the stomach the way other foreign material can, this is still abnormal. However, if your dog eats dirt, this may be due to an underlying medical issue, not just a curious pooch! When animals eat unusual substances compulsively (such as dirt, kitty litter, gravel, etc.) we call this pica. In some species (horses) it is often out of boredom. While pica can sometimes be associated with behavioral idiosyncrasies (like if you have a very bored dog!) its often more likely due to anemia or a rare iron or mineral deficiencies. I occasionally see pica due to severe, life-threatening anemia, secondary to immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. Likewise, if you are cooking a homemade diet or feeding your dog a frozen or raw diet, make sure you get the diet assessed for trace mineral or vitamin deficiencies or excesses, as they can also result in pica. So, if your dog is eating dirt, make sure to do the following: - Check your dogs gum color to make sure that his gums dont appear too pale or jaundiced - IF THEY DO, AN IMMEDIATE VISIT TO YOUR VET IS A MUST! - Check the diet - if its an AAFCO balanced diet, its unlikely that there is a vitamin or mineral deficiency. However is its a homemade food, consider consulting with a veterinary nutritionalist. - Visit your vet for blood work or x-rays, especially if you notice other signs of lethargy, decreased appetite, or weight loss. The sooner the medical problem is identified, the sooner we can treat it and often the better and less expensive the outcome. - If your dog is doing great, eating well, and not showing any clinical signs, add in some environmental enrichment instead. Prevent your dog from eating the dirt, and offer him a treat like a Buster Ball filled with his favorite canned food instead - it will provide hours of fun while he tries to get the food out! When in doubt, talk to your veterinarian about this unusual - but potentially medical - cause for eating dirt! WHY DO DOGS EAT GRASS? This has always been one of the most frequently asked questions among dog owners. They see their dog eating grass or chewing on plants - seemingly for no reason. Not surprisingly, dogs sometimes gag or even vomit the grass they have swallowed and then go right back to eating more grass!!! Other times the grass they swallow may pass in their stools undigested. Are they trying to make themselves vomit? Are they trying to make themselves pass something? Are they attempting to clear their intestinal tract of foreign objects or parasites? Why do dogs like grass? The eating of strange objects and material is called pica. Some people believe that dogs eat grass to stimulate vomiting or diarrhea, but this is undetermined by the fact that most dogs to not act ill before eating grass. Besides, most dogs that eat grass dont vomit at all. I feel that dogs eat grass and plants for one simple reason, they like the taste and texture - much like many people eat celery or lettuce. In fact, some people eat weeds for that very reason. (Did you ever have nettles or dandelions as an ingredient in salad?) Unfortunately, from a medical perspective, we just dont know why dogs eat grass with any certainly; however, several ideas have been put forward. Your dogs may be bored - dogs chew things things frequently when they are bored and need something to do. Be sure to provide plenty of enrichment and activity and even appropriate chewing options, like chew toys. Your dogs may be missing something from his diet - If you feed your dog home prepared diets, it is possible that they are missing a key nutrient, but if you supplement their diet with vitamins it becomes improbable they are lacking anything found in grass. Can eating grass hurt my dog? Dogs are truly omnivores: they can and do eat both meat and plant material. Wild or feral dogs, and dogs who hunt, often ingest the intestines of their prey, along with the stomach contents - including plant material. Occasionally grass, and particularly grass awns, can become lodged in the back of your dogs throat or between his teeth. If your dog wretches after eating grass or paws at his mouth, check for lodged grass as a potential cause. Again, grass is a normal component of a dogs diet, but some grass seed has been treated with chemicals for various reasons and should be certainly avoided. Yard sprays, such as weed control or fertilizers, can turn grass and plants toxic. If you dont know for sure if an area is chemical free, dont let your dog graze. Remember too that while grass is not itself toxic, some common weeds and ornamentals are! So long as grass in untreated, and you dont allow it to become an obsessive behavior, it will do no harm. What can I safely substitute for grass? Assuming, as I do, that dogs simply like the taste of grass, look for something cool, fresh and textured. I have seen pet owners use fresh carrots, peeled celery and even lettuce. There is no evidence that eating grass is usually anything more than a behavioral concern, but because of the potential medical ramifications caused by toxins on grass, you should ideally try to discourage it.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:01:28 +0000
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