Coprophagia

Coprophagia

Coprophagia is the consumption of feces, from the Greek κόπρος copros ("feces") and φαγεῖν phagein ("to eat"). Many animal species practice coprophagia as a matter of course; other species do not normally consume feces but may do so under unusual conditions.
Coprophagia in non-human animals
 
Two Common Blue butterflies consume a small lump of feces lying on a rock.
A female Physiphora alceae feeding on feces in Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaCoprophagous insects consume and redigest the feces of large animals. These feces contain substantial amounts of semi-digested food (herbivores\' digestive systems are especially inefficient). The most notable feces-eating insect is the dung-beetle and the most ubiquitous is the fly.

Pigs, like the above insects, will eat the feces of herbivores that leave a significant amount of semi-digested matter. In certain cultures, it was common for poor families to collect horse feces to feed their pigs. Pigs are also known to eat their own feces and even human feces as well. However, domesticated pigs should not be allowed to eat any sort of feces, as this contributes to the risk of parasite infection. Perhaps for reasons associated with pigs\' ready coprophagy, pork was scripturally banned as human food first in the Old Testament and then the Qur\'an. Practicing Jews, Seventh Day Adventists and Muslims familiar with this behavior by pigs may cite it as an additional important reason why pork should not be eaten.
 

Coprophagia comes from the Greek words Corpos and phagein and means ‘to eat feces’. Almost all dogs partake in this nasty behavior at least once in their lives while others make it a daily habit. Why do they snack on their own feces and how do you make them stop if it does become a problem?

There are many reasons dogs eat their own feces – boredom, missing nutrients in their diet, hunger and instinct all can play a factor in why your dog may delve into the darker side of canine behavior. Understanding why they do it helps to develop a plan to stop the abhorrent behavior.

Bored dogs are generally poorly behaved dogs. They bark, dig, break out of the yard, dig some more, destroy their toys, or worse, your furniture and sometimes eat their own feces. Dogs require both daily mental and physical stimulation otherwise they become bored. Often the behavior is destructive in nature.

For any of these bad behaviors, the cure is the same – both mentally and physically stimulate your dog! A tired dog is a happy dog and a happy dog rarely destroys the house or eats their own poop!

Coprophagia can also be brought about by something either missing from their diet or possibly a lack of digestive enzymes. Canine diets are balanced for the average dog but not all dogs are average. Often changing the diet to another brand over a few days or adding a nutritional supplement to their food can stop coprophagia entirely.

There is also some speculation regarding the need for dogs with a mildly compromised digestive system requiring digestive enzymes in the feces – it is a way of recycling the necessary enzymes for the dog. There is a supporting theory behind this way of thinking although researchers have not been able to prove it as of yet. One of the ‘tricks’ to stop a dog from eating their own feces is to add pineapple to their food to make their feces unappetizing. What if it was not a matter of appetizing or unappetizing but instead the high levels of the protein-digesting enzyme bromelain in the fruit? Bromelain is one of the two ingredients in meat tenderizer and works to break down proteins so the nutrients are more readily available. By adding the pineapple to the dog’s diet, you are negating the reason why they are eating the feces – to increase the levels of digestive enzymes in their system. Although there is little to no scientific proof of this theory, try adding some pineapple to your dog’s diet and if they stop eating their feces, you at least have a solution even if the cause is still being researched. Or, talk to your vet about adding bromelain to their diet direct – if that fixes the problem then you know it was a lack of digestive enzymes that was making them snack between meals.

Hunger is another reason why dogs eat their own feces. Obviously stray or starving dogs eat whatever they can get their hands on so why does your well-cared for dog require the mid-afternoon snack? Are they on a diet by any chance? Instinct tells dogs that if less food is coming from the normal route, then acquiring more calories from an abnormal route will have to happen. This why many well-behaved dogs suddenly turn into counter-surfing, garbage-diving and sandwich-snatching monsters! If this could be the reason your little angel has turned into a thief, try splitting the total food intake for the day into three meals versus two or add a fiber based food to their diet. If their stomach is full, their brains will not trigger them to go snacking, at least not as much. Fiber formula food is given to diabetics as a way to slow down digestion and keep blood sugar levels at a constant level versus the spikes of one or two big meals a day. For dogs that need to loose a few pounds, the fiber food makes them feel full longer and because of the low calorie content of the food, they can continue to be fed the same volume of food that they were eating pre-diet. It is a little mean to trick them but if it works and they lose the weight while stopping the nasty coprophagia habit, isn’t a little trickery worth it?