Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi,
So I am having an issue with Kitna where he keeps eating dog poop. His, his sister's; he's not picky. Unfortunately, his sister appears to have also picked up the habit and I was wondering if any of you had tried any medications to make your dog's poop taste bad (to them).
Our veterinarian said there was a medication he could prescribe, but I don't know if it will work. Snickers (Kitna's sister) doesn't appear to have an aversion to anything. This dog has eaten chili con carne' that was too spicy for me(!); she loves the taste of the bitter apple spray (I put it on her leash to stop her from chewing on it and she couldn't stop licking the leash); and she greedily laps up activated charcoal when it is offered to her by the vet. There are not many flavors on this planet that Snickers finds unpleasant. I haven't been able to find anything that she "hates"; just things that she doesn't care for. Like celery, lemon and pears. I'm not kidding. Those are like the ONLY three things she doesn't care for. Everything else she will eat. She has even taken to knocking mostly empty coke cans off of my husband's desk so that she can lick the spilled soda off of the carpet. (My husband doesn't drink soda anymore, btw. Wonder why. /sarcasm)
That being said, I didn't want to invest in this medication unless it had worked for other people. So has anyone on here tried anything like this? How much did it cost, and did it work well for your dogs?
Thanks!
Brigitte
I've never tried it, but I've seen this in a catalog. It's not prescription.
http://www.drsf.....atid=19133
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Brigette, 2 of my shelties are dedicated poop eaters. 
They will search the yard in hopes I have missed a tiny piece somewhere and if they find one they devour it instantly before I can stop them. I have tried Dis-Taste with no luck...although some people whose dogs are less determined have had good results with it. I have also tried adding pineapple to their diet...again several people who have tried this have had it stop the poop eating...but not mine. The only thing I have found that works is to pick up all poop from the yard before I let them outside and to go out with them and follow them around with a scoop to instantly pick up anything additions they make. I hope you have better luck solving this issue than I have had!!
Trini and Sketch
The only thing that worked to stop Murphy from eating Gus' poop was to feed Gus pumpkin. For some reason pumpkin poop was repugnant to him. It doesn't sound like that would work for you, but it is worth a try.
Now kitty poop was an entirely different matter.....
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Lol. We would have issues with Kitna eating kitty poop too if it weren't for the fact that he is allergic to cat litter.
Sounds strange right? Kitna was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis in 2013 and the vet said that it is really hard to tell what it causing the issue. So we started eliminating things one by one. First to go was the oxiclean I was washing our clothes in. Nope. That didn't do it. Then I thought that maybe it was the low VoC paint I was painting my walls with, so I stopped painting the walls (they still aren't finished btw lol).
And then I remembered:
The two times that Kitna has had a flare up, the gate to the cat room (where the litter boxes are) had been taken down. So I put the gate back up and he hasn't had a flare up since. So I am assuming that Kitna is allergic to kitty litter and it was his rooting around in the cat box for kitty-munchies that caused his bronchitis to flare up. Stinky poop-eating dog. I'm so glad that he never gives kisses.
Out lab-mix on the other hand, LOVES to give kisses. Which is unfortunate because I have caught her eating poop too. Yuck.
Thank you for the suggestions so far guys! Keep them coming! 🙂
Funny poop eaters! Years ago when we lived in the country and had horses, we had a female Golden called Jennie. The word at our house was "Don't let Jennie kiss you if she has green lips!"
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
OMD . . . . I'm dying!!! Green lips??? LOL!!!!
Okay, I can't add anything here. I can't tell you how many times we've caught Meesha mid-turd. But then again, SHE EATS EVERYTHING!! The hub-a-dub dropped a paper towel the other day and she ate it!
We've tried all the "deterrents" and nothing has worked so far. I've been told they eat poop (called Pica) because they're lacking something in their diet. Yeah? WHATEVER! How can she lack something in her diet with everything she sees she eats!?
And don't get me started on the whole hickory nut surgery!
Okay, breathing slowly . . . in . . . out . . . heavy sigh . . . .
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
When we first got Phil (our rescued Pittie) he always ate Julian's poop and Forbid did not work. I did have success using Frank's Hot Sauce. I put it directly on the poop and then let it sit in the yard a few days. I had to do that once a week for 3 or 4 weeks and now I do not have any issues.
Pam
Hot poop! That's funny. But it works. That's how my grandpa got me to stop sucking my thumb when I was a toddler. He put hot sauce on my thumb a few times and whammo, that did the trick!
I thought of this topic today when Dr. Kay published this post, very helpful tips here:
In addition to the causes mentioned above, coprophagy in dogs can be associated with the following:
Attention-seeking behavior
Boredom/lack of stimulation or enrichment in the environment
Learned behavior from other dogs in the household
Stress/anxiety
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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