Top 3 Reasons Why Dog Eats Cat Poop & How to Stop

Here are the most common reasons for dogs that eat cat poop. This could be a sudden development or the cat poop might have been something your dog enjoyed eating for a while.

1. Dog likes the scent of cat poop

Your dog is eating cat poop because he is curious about or enjoys the scent of cat poop. This ties back to what you feed the cat. It might be due to the wet cat food being packed with ingredients your dog absolutely loves, such as tuna and cod. You should also know that cats typically have a greater need for animal-based protein than dogs. As a result, the richness of the cat food could make the cat poop delicious for dogs.

2. Dog suffers from dietary deficiencies

Dietary and nutritional deficiencies may also cause dogs to eat things he shouldn’t be eating, such as cat poop. For example, researchers in the past suspected that vitamin deficiencies, specifically a lack of vitamin B1, may encourage the development of poop-eating behaviors in dogs.

It may also be a lack of other important nutrients that a dog’s body requires to grow and thrive. It could be a lack of protein in the dog’s diet. It may even be malabsorption. The dog might be consuming a well-balanced diet but something inside his body is preventing important nutrients from getting absorbed. This might be the presence of parasites or the development of an underlying disorder in the dog’s digestive system.

3. Dog wants to get to know the cat

It might even be a normal behavior for dogs to eat cat poop as long as it’s not excessive. For example, some dogs like to eat the poop of other dogs to get to know them better. The scent and content of the dog poop helps paint a fuller picture of a dog’s background. The same thing could be happening here where the dog is eating the cat poop in order to get know more about the cat’s background.

What happens if a dog eats cat poop

There is a possibility of your dog getting sick if he has a tendency to eat cat poop. The level of risk depends on a number of factors such as the cat’s diet, the cat’s general health, and whether the cat is an indoor or outdoor pet. For example, it’s possible for dogs to pick up internal parasites and diseases, especially if the poop came from a sick cat.

A trip to vet isn’t always necessary especially if the dog only eats the cat poop on an infrequent basis. Do, however, take your dog to the vet if you are ever in doubt or if the dog is starting to show unusual behaviors and body movements.

How to stop a dog from eating cat poop

A simple step is to be more proactive with scooping out the cat poop from the litter. You should have a general idea when your cat goes to the toilet. Don’t give your dog the opportunity to sniff and pick out the cat poop from the litter box. You could also try replacing the litter box, preferably a box with an entrance your dog can’t squeeze through. Top-entry litter boxes, such as the PetMate Litter Box works pretty well in keeping out curious dogs.