Why your pet eats poop

Many cuddly and not so cuddly animals eat shit on a regular basis. (Remember that next time Poochie wants to lick your face). These include rabbits, rodents, gorillas, and man's best friend the dog.

Rabbits, rodents and their ilk eat shit because their diet of plants is sometimes hard to digest efficiently, and they have to "make two passes at it to get everything out of the meal." Also, the bacteria in an animal's colon produces certain vitamins and minerals that Fluffy just can't resist. "The animal is unable to absorb the vitamins through the intestinal wall, but can get at them by eating the poop."

Now you may be saying to yourself, "That's fine for a rabbit, but why is my dog eating cat shit?" Well, the answer is good old fashioned protein. Apparently, cat scat is a high protein food and has a taste that dogs just love. So if you're the resourceful type and not too squeamish, you might never have to buy kitty litter again.

Source : Brenna E. Lorenz (a vet who lives in Guam and therefore has plenty of time to study this shit)

VIII
THE DOG AND THE BOTTLE

"My beautiful dog, my beautiful dog, my dear pooch, come closer and smell this excellent perfume bought from the best artisan in the city."

And the dog, its tail wiggling, which is among those poor beings, I believe, the sign that corresponds to laughter and smiling, comes closer and puts its humid nose against the uncorked bottle with curiosity; then, suddenly recoiling with fright, it barks at me in a manner of reproach.

"Ah! You miserable dog, if I had offered you a pack of excrements, you would have smelled it with pleasure and perhaps devoured it. In that way, you unworthy companion of my sad life, you are much like the public, to which one must never present delicate smells which irritate them, but carefully selected garbage."

-Charles Baudelaire, The Spleen of Paris.

This is one of the "short poems in prose" that make up Baudelaire's collection of short stories The Spleen of Paris and seeing this node immediately made me think of it. Now you know why your pets eat poop—they are simply mimicing human behavior.

 

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According to French copyright law, Charles Baudelaire's works are in the public domain. Translation © me 2004.