The similarity between chinks and dogs obviously does not end with just shitting and peeing in public.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/08/23/coprophagia-poop-eating.aspx
By Dr. Becker
Believe it or not, one of the most frequently searched subjects by readers of my Healthy Pets newsletter is stool eating. It would seem there are a lot of pets (primarily dogs) out there snacking on poop!
I think we can all agree this is a revolting subject, but it’s a common problem that should be addressed.
Coprophagia is the technical term for stool eating. It is considered inappropriate, not to mention disgusting eating behavior. The single exception is with mother dogs and cats that deliberately ingest the feces of their litters to hide their scent while the babies are still vulnerable and hidden away in the den or nest.
[h=2]Medical Reasons for Coprophagia[/h]
Dogs eat poop for lots of reasons. Sometimes there’s an underlying medical problem like an enzyme deficiency or
pancreatic insufficiency. Intestinal malabsorption and GI parasites are also common medical reasons underlying coprophagia.
At my practice we recommend clients bring their dogs in every six months for a stool check for parasites. Healthy dogs can wind up with
intestinal parasitesfrom eating poop, so twice-yearly stool analysis can be a very helpful tool.
A dog’s pancreas secretes digestive enzymes to aid in food digestion, but many dogs don’t make enough of these enzymes and wind up deficient. Since the feces of other animals are a good source of digestive enzymes, dogs with a deficiency will sometimes ingest enzyme-rich poop. In fact, rabbit poop is a very rich source of not only enzymes, but also B vitamins, which is why many dogs, given the opportunity, will happily scarf up rabbit droppings.
In my experience, dogs on processed dry food diets will often seek out other sources of digestive enzymes to make up for a chronic enzyme deficiency brought on by a biologically inappropriate diet.
Cats with enzyme deficiencies, malabsorption issues, and/or who are fed poor-quality nutrition can provide litter box temptations for dogs. Many cheap dry pet foods contain ingredients that are impossible to digest, so they pass right through the cat’s GI tract and out the other end undigested. This provides poop eating dogs an opportunity to sample cat “snacks” right out of the litter box.