Coprophagia

Dear Dr. Lee,

My 4 year old yellow lab, Kenny, is a beloved family member, but he does have one annoying vice. He eats his own stool! He especially likes it when it is frozen, and sometimes brings his "snack" into the house. This is beyond disgusting - what can I do about this?

Ken's Fans in Bridgeport


Dear Ken's Fans,

Coprophagia, the oral consumption of feces, is a normal canine behavior that is not very acceptable by human standards. Coprophagia is not an indicator that a dog is being fed a substandard diet or has digestive problems. It is thought that this behavior was one inherited from wild canine ancestors who did not always have access to regular nutrition, and needed to scavenge to stay alive.

The best way to prevent coprophagy is to pick up stool in the dog's yard as soon as it is deposited. This will deny the dog the opportunity to eat his own, or his housemates feces. If out walking in public areas, keep your dog on a shorter leash so that you can prevent his contact with the feces of other dogs whose owners do not pick up after them (shame on them!). Another technique is to place a muzzle on the dog before going outside to inhibit stool consumption.

Other commonly suggested methods include using a powdered food additive (Forbid), mixing meat tenderizer, cottage cheese or pineapple with food, or lacing already deposited stool with cayenne pepper or hot sauce. While these additives do make the stool distasteful, the most persistantly coprophagic dogs will be able to smell which stools are "doctored" and which are not, thus know which piles are less distasteful to consume.

If your dog consumes the stool of other animals, monthly broad-spectrum deworming becomes especially important for the health of the dog, and to keep him from shedding intestinal parasite eggs that could potentially infect the humans he shares his house with. This can be acheived through monthly, year-round administration of heartworm preventatives such as Sentinel, Interceptor, Heartguard Plus, or Revolution.

Sincerely,
Dr. Lee