So, our Flea Treats mascot, Carl, wasn’t feeling well and had a trip to the vet. It seems his distress was caused by gravel in his system from eating cat poop!!! What is it about cat poop that dogs cannot resist!?! We found this online from the American Kennel Club:
“The Science Behind Why Dogs Eat Cat Poop: Many dogs enjoy eating all kinds of poop, much to our disgust. This behavior is totally natural, since dogs are scavengers by nature. That being said, dogs eat all kinds of things that aren’t healthy for them, like garbage, carpet, rocks, and more. Cat poop is just another thing to scavenge and eat.
While you might think cat poop smells gross, it probably smells like cat food to your dog. Since normal cat food appeals to a dog’s sense of smell, and many dogs love to eat cat food, this may be one of the reasons why they’re often ready to snack out of the litter box.
Eating poop, a habit called coprophagia, can be the result of a dietary deficiency. But in most cases, it is just the products of canine exploration, which can become a bad habit. Additionally, normal maternal behavior for dogs includes the consumption of feces and urine of young puppies.”
Our litter box in the house has an X-pen around it so the dogs cannot access it, but the backyard is a whole different story!!! While we have penned off one popular poop area, there are many others! We are going to try to entice the cats to use raised boxes with sand (from the gardening department) when doing their business outside. Wish us luck!!! 💩