Kind of gross question - pet related

[r&kmommy]

HhHi all! There are so many knowledgeable pet parents on here I figured someone would be able to answer my kind of gross question!

We have a guinea pig, Oreo, whose cage is in our front hall for the hot weather... It is usually upon ds's room, where the dog, Jett, can't get to it. If you have piggies you know they are messy animals - I sweep around her cage everyday... Bedding, food pellets and poop pellets are invariably always around her cage. Well I walked by the cage first thing this am, it was messy and I said I'll sweep in a bit. I go back an hour later and notice there is just bedding laying around - the food and poops were gone !!! That means the dog ate them. Gross.

Now she's been in the hall since June so I am sure the dog has done this many times already, but I wanted to make sure this won't harm him at all? I haven't noticed any more vomit than normal (1x day he usually has a bit of it from eating grass - he's not sick though lol)...

So, do I need to hide the guinea pigs cage?? Or turn a blind eye to jett's "snacking"?

 

[tammymacb]

Dogs love to eat poop. Cat turds are a special delicacy. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Ha! Only chuckling because I had a similar problem this year from our hamster cage - not with the dog, but with ants that found their way in when I left a door open. Seems they enjoyed the snacking themselves - went directly to the cage area. I had to make sure the "little terds that got away" got cleaned up every day and that I didn't leave the door open. I also wiped the whole area down with Lysol and made sure that Gus's "ball" was cleaned after nightly use (as any residual elimination odors may have been attracting them as well).

Challenging when it's so hot finding a good place for our little friends, isn't it?

At any rate, personally I think that dogs eat far worse when they're out in the yard. Just think about it. It's just that we have no idea, usually. I think you should just try to keep up with keeping the floor clean, and if a few get by, the dog will be fine.

 

[tttessa]

Won't do any harm at all - guinea pigs eat their own anyhow - the soft first time through ones get eaten to get more goodness out.... mmmmmmm! all that's left is the insoluble fibre.

Tessa

 

[ckay87]

Remember this the next time somebody tells you that a dog's mouth "is cleaner than your own."

Jet would rather eat the Guinea Pig, this is just the next-best thing. Actually....GPs eat their own poop. I remember learning that they eliminate two types of it and one type they eat.

 

[Hannathy]

Dogs love to eat poop. Cat turds are a special delicacy. I wouldn't worry about it.

You mean Kitty Kookies!!!

It is a left over instinct from days of being in the wild. There is a lot of nutrients left over in that "poop"

Every watch chickens in a barnyard with cows and horses?

 

[r&kmommy]

Thanks for the reassurances everyone!! I knew Oreo ate her poops, our rabbit used to as well. And as for Jett wanting to eat the pig, um no he doesn't! He us a huge scaredy cat and peeks around the corner to see if she's hiding in her tube or litter box before he goes anywhere near her! If he's hanging out near the cage and oreo moves he freaks and yelps and skitters away lol!!!

 

[java]

hmm What about worms? Isn't there risk of worms when a dog eats poop- I know when our dog was eating deer poop- hey it looked like chocolate chips- we had to watch for worms.

 

[Hannathy]

Deer are wild animals with a ton of parasites. Most of these cases are of pets that live indoors.

 

[Hannathy]

Our puppy was so good at knowing exactly when the cat went and getting to it before we did that if her breath smelled like candy canes you knew what she had been dong. (My DD had a box of the little ones and if she smelled you know what on the puppy's breathe she feed her a couple!)