Why Do Dogs Like To Eat Cat Poop From The Litterbox?

Pretty much every dog owner that has cats, has at some point experienced the problem of their dog eating cat feces. It’s fairly common for dogs to eat their own poop or poop from other dogs. The behavior of dogs eating cat fecal waste is known as coprophagia. There are a few reasons why canines eat cat crap that we will go over. You may be surprised at some of them…

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Reasons That Your Dog Eat Cat Poop From The Litter Box

Ughh, you come home and see your puppy slinking into the corner with a bunch of cat litter stuck to his nose. Sure enough, you can see the litter box is open and mysteriously empty. You instantly regret not buying a litter box that keeps dogs out. Below we are going to go over the top reasons why your pooch has this disgusting habit in the first place!

Cat Poop Taste

Ok, this may be shocking but bear with us… Believe it or not, your pup might actually like the taste of cat poop! It’s a common theory that dogs can’t tell the poop is waste, and just see it as another snack to eat. This also ties in with the next point about how it smells for them.

Nutritional Needs

cat in litter box

No poop eating on my watch!!!

As gross as this subject is, your dog doesn’t understand that there isn’t much nutritional benefit to eating the poop. They simply smell it and think that it’s food. In fact, the smell for them is similar to cat food.

If they are eating poop regularly then it could possibly signal a nutritional deficit in their diet. The reason for this is that they are eating the feces to try and get some vitamins and nutrients, although they won’t succeed as cat crap doesn’t have much if any of the vitamins they need.

Given that cats are carnivores they are not that great at digesting carbohydrates. This means that all the partially digested carbs make it into their feces, and this is thought to be a major reason that the smell attracts dogs so much. They genuinely think that it’s food and are just doing what comes naturally to them.

Something To Do

Another reason why your canine is snacking on cat waste is that they are simply bored. A bored dog is always going to look for ways to entertain themselves. If they are left at home for long periods of time then they are going to look for things to do.

Breaking into the litter box can be a really fun activity for a mischevious pooch. They don’t think of the consequences, they just live in the moment. The problem is that they are always rewarded with a treat when they succeed which further reinforces their behavior.

Overall these are the main reasons why your pet might engage in coprophagia. Sure it’s still gross, but at least now you might understand it a bit better and know how to put an end to it.