Why does my dog eat cat poop?
This is a question that we often get from sitter and owners who work with Rover. Help the community out by answering them in our forum!
1 Answer
Dogs are omnivores, so their diet ideal diet should be a balanced mix of meat and plants (grain, fruit, veg). Cats are opportunistic carnivores, so their diet should consist primarily of animal protein with occasional plants (grain, fruit, veg). This means that even in a digested form, cat poop still contains a good amount of protein. Cats also require a higher quality of food, and may not fully process all of the nutrients. Dogs are drawn to the remaining protein and see it as "food".
While its a pretty common behavior, dogs should definitely be discouraged from eating cat poop. Aside from the fact that its just gross, there can also be parasites and/or diseases passed from one animal to the other.