Coprophagia Relief

[kimmyb]

HI all! We are BRAND NEW to EPI and I'm trying to be a sponge... this forum and website have been an absolute god send as we try to navigate through all the info. We have just begun prescription enzymes so not seen much change yet...

My question is (and forgive me if it's somewhere else I didn't see much on it when I searched the boards) has anyone else had experience with severe coprophagia (poop eating!)? We first went to the vet before we noticed other problems because our Gus has been absolutely desperate to eat his poop and if we aren't 100% vigilant he will do it in seconds. I understand it's a symptom of EPI but wondering if it will clear itself up once we get his EPI managed or if this is a bad habit that sticks?

[jilbert57]

The reason it is an issue with EPI dogs is before treatment with enzymes undigested food passes thru the dog and comes out with food in the poop . They smell it and want to eat the food particles. As the enzymes work to break down the food more and more will be absorbed by the dog as nutrients. Soon the dog will stop being so interested in poop as there is no longer food in it.
Of course some dogs will eat poop just cause!

[Jean]

ask away,

i know what its like when you start out, you wake up with a question in your mind, and it has to be answered somewhere, its what a forum is for

my Kara ate everything she passed, and anybody elses too, the vets said it tastes as good coming out, as going in, and thast she was starving hungry, we fed her every couple of hours at one time

some folk have had success in adding pineapple to the food, and, or, pumpkin

hopefully it will sort itself out , can I ask you to add what you are doing daily to your signature, and keep a journal on everything you do, it will help us no end

the problem with undigested food is that there is no nourishment being absorbed, so hunger results, and eating poo and anything else, becomes more obvious

have you had a lot of weight loss, if so, feed 150% of what your dog SHOULD weigh over a few meals


Jean

[Olesia711]

Such a disgusting topic, eh?!!!! But i think we have ALL been there at some point with our dogs.... My ate her's and was almost feral about it... jsut before she was properly diagnosed and once her body started receiving the much needed nutrition from the food that she was missing for so long..... she slowly lost interest in eating her poo.

Like Jean said, you can put canned crushed pineapple in the food, sometimes that helps, i have also heard that "Accent" (the meat tenderizer) also works.....

What you can also do.... is sprtiz freshly laid poo with "Bitter Apple" (but at that point, might as well just pick p the poop)
Supposedly if you feed you dog a few pieces of zucchini with their meal that will also deter them from eating what comes out the other end.... however, i have never tried this, so i really don't know if this is true or not.


What (unfortunately) can happen is that the poo-eating starts out as necessity but then can become a bad habit..... but i think by picking it up as soon as you can, that will be really helpful in breaking it if it does become a habit.

ANother thing that you can do is just automatically put a basket muzzle on your dog before you let them out in the yard... this will prevent them from getting into anything they shouldn't and jsut take it off when they come back in.... here is a picture of what i am talking about... they are about $12