Posts Tagged ‘copraphagia’
Beagles and Retrievers are known for their enormous appetites and nonselective feeding habits. A dog’s increased appetite may be an indication of a disease condition. In the cold weather, all the dog is having increased appetite. It is not a problem!
The old saying that dogs will eat only what they need is simply not true — the fact approximately one-third of dogs in US and UK are overweight bears witness to that.
Abnormal Signs of Increased Appetite
A sudden increase in appetite may have an obvious cause, such as an unusual spurt of activity, growth (in young dog), pregnancy, or underfeeding. If the dog’s eating habits have the following characteristics, ther may be an underlying medical problem:
- It eats feces of its own species, or other animals- cows, sheep, or horses, which is called as copraphagia.
- It eats more rapidly than normal, cleaning its bowl as quickly as possible (this may be competitive, if sharing mealtimes with another dog).
- It eats less selectively and sometimes ingests inedible matter. This is called “PICA“.
- The dog demands food at unusual times of day and is unsatisfied when its meal is finished.
Disorders of the adrenal gland and pancreas, including sugar diabetes, may affect appetite, so it’s wise to take a urine sample with you as well. Kidney disease can cause protein loss and muscle wasting, leading the dog to eat more. Even some medicines have the effect of increasing appetite, so be sure to inform the vet if your dog has received any recent treatment.
Intestinal worms are common causes of increased appetite, and your vet cancan carry out a simple test to establish whether they are present in the dog’s stools, or feces. If the worms are ruled out, the vet will look for disorders of eating and swallowing that leave hunger unsatisfied.
Occasionally, however, a dog’s increased appetite is not caused by greed but by one of a number of medical problems. The dog may eat indiscriminately, or develop an unusual eating habit. Vets call this dog’s increased appetite as “POLYPHAGIA”.
