Gut problem

Hi Ray,

Mate unfortunately these sorts of problems are often difficult to diagnose and solve.

It has always been my opinion that any dog that eats a lot of grass on a regular basis is feeling bilious because of digestive system problems.

This could indicate problems with either the digestibility of the food due to high levels of preservatives, problems with the pancreas; such as insufficient pancreatic enzymes being produced to break the food down to absorbable components, or problems with bile production of the liver which reduces the ability of the digestive system to break down and absorb fatty acids.

In your situation now that the dog has started eating it’s own faeces I’m more inclined to think that it is possibly due to insufficient pancreatic enzymes, as this causes poor digestibility of protein. In other words the protein is not being broken down to its amino acid components, and this leaves the dog feeling extremely hungry.

Solutions?
A full blood profile to see if there is an infection in the gut, problems with the liver, or other health problems that may be causing this behaviour.
A complete change of diet to something that is easy to digest, such as cooked chicken and rice.
And/or adding digestive enzymes to the diet, such as pancreatic enzyme supplements available from most health food shops, or Thrive D, Yakult or yogurt.

Adding a table spoon of crushed pineapple to the main meal does reduce the palatability of faeces and may assist in reducing the eating of faeces without solving the original problem that causes this behaviour.

Cheers,
Tom