Molly's eating habits are strange

[mollysmum]

Hi
I was wondering if any other of you cavvy lovers have experienced their dogs eating blades of grass. This happens when out on a walk or when Molly is playing in the garden. I have been told it is an indication of an upset tummy. We have always had problems with Molly regarding her faeces, she seems to have an ultra sensitive tummy and if anything new is introduced in her diet her poops are very very soft and slimey. She also goes to the toilet 2 or 3 times a day, and by god can she produce!!!!! She has recently been having a lot of very foul smelling wind as well, which can be highly embarrassing when visitors call. I am sorry to be so graphic but the most recent problem we have with her is she has been caught eating the cat faeces out of the litter tray . . . this is totally distgusting and we are in the process of completely splitting them both up. I mentioned all this to my vet and was told "it was one of those things". Can anyone out there advise what else I can do and perhaps what is the cause for this distgusting behaviour.
( Molly's diet is handful of dried biscuits mixed with fresh veg and occasionally chicken. She has dental chews ,and carrot sticks as snacks).
Regards
Mollysmum

[meljoy]

Hi,
I posted about this last week. Leo is doing exactly the same. I got many replies saying all was normal and not to worry about it.

Mel

[mollysmum]

Hi Mel
How have you stopped Leo eating faeces? I find it disgusting and surely it cant be good for our dogs. Is Leo's toilet habit the same as Molly's? I have never known a dog to pass so much poop!
Thanks for your reply
Mollysmum

[Wagtails]

I have had Cavaliers since 1992 and every single one of them has eaten loads of grass - they just seem to like it!

As for other disgusting habits - the prettier the dog, the worse the tendency, in my experience. We live surrounded by open pastureland, so every kind of droppings are available and to be savoured if given the chance. I spend a lot of time steering them away from it all and "Leave" must be the word they all hear me say the most!

Cat faeces are particularly undesirable though - I have had dogs really poorly with haemorrhagic diarrhoea after eating them, so I would definitely keep Molly well away from them if you can.

Good luck, Marie-Anne

[rhiannasmom]

I've had similar experiences with Amber. She passes a normal amount of feces, but we've had our battles with her eating cat poo. We've sectioned off the litter box with a gate that the cat sneaks under to do his business. Truth be told, Amber is the same size as the cat and could squeeze through if she wanted, but 'out of sight, out of mind' seems to apply well with her. We also did a bit of training with her on leaving the whole area alone. She responds to a firm 'Eh-Eh' sound (hubby says I sound like a monkey!) and I haven't seen her eat poo for a few months now.
Our biggest eating problems with Amber are grass (which usually doesn't cause any problems) and eating the cat food. Oh, dear lord, does she ever have some smelly wind when she gets into the cat food!
I've also noticed that she has more gas when I feed her chicken or chicken broth. Perhaps she has a harder time digesting chicken? Foul wind is can be a sign that the body isn't digesting properly.

I agree with Marie-Anne about the 'leave-it' command. That's been really helpful for us when we're out on walks (and around the litter box)!

Good luck!
Melissa

[Karlin]

My dogs all LOVE grass regardless of whether they have tummy problems (they will always eat it if they have a grumbly tummy but when at the park they are like cows...!).

I wouldn't worry about it. Lots of them like the roughage I think and just seem to enjoy eating it.

[chloe92us]

Agree with all- cat poo, gross but normal. You just have to put the boxes somewhere she can't get to them. Our box is in a back room that has a gate at the door the cats jump over.

Eating grass, completely normal. All of mine do it.

As for the runny and multiple times a day poos- I think I would be concerned about that. What are you feeding her?

[lorebringer]

Pooing multiple times per day - yep!

Big poos - definately yep!

Eating large amounts of grass for no reason - yep!

Eating/rolling in dodgy stiff - yep!

Very smelly wind - yep!

All sounds normal to me, or at least normal for my lot! I would be concerned with the slimey poos, definately look her diet. If the poo is mucusy then colitis may be to blame (the poo with look shiney). Also, if she is going quite a lot (my lady goes at least twice a day, if not more, and they are huge - don't know how there is any of her left!) and it's dodgy then perhaps ask the vet about it. She my have a food allergy also (wheat, and other grains, and certain meats are usually to blame) which can be fixed easily, once you figure out what is is upsetting her belly.

[mlhirsch]

Polka has always eaten grass. But her favorite poo is rabbit. I have no idea how her tiny little sniffer can find all of the rabbit poo piles in the yard....ugh!! It is bunny season in Ohio, so we have lots. She loves it, i not so much. And yes, she finds cat poo too. Now we don't have cats, it is the neighbors cats using my beautiful flower beds as their litter box. And Polka again, has been able to search it out. So the poo story continues with another Cavalier. And Colleen, no poo. Just a roller. Loves to sniff and roll. Polka never did that. Oh, they are so funny!!

[meljoy]

Mollysmum,

Like others have said I use the "Leave it" command A LOT!

Luckily Leo only seems to want to eat "his own" and no one elses!

Just keep on with the leave it and hopefully she'll get the message.

Mel