eating poo

anyone?

Ah lovely,
I am reading this thread with my hands over my eyes.

And why are we all replying!

You are right elegran and they eat it directly from source via a neat dispenser! It used to make me feel ill when our rabbit did that.

We had a rabbit and a guinea pig who shared a cage - both male. The rabbit used to b****r the guinea pig all day long. Then when the rabbit died the poor guinea pig got dreadfully constipated and my OH (a doc) used to have to put his surgical gloves on and do a manual removal! So the rabbit had obviously been serving a useful function.

Explaining all this to the children and answering their questions was interesting! "Mummy - why is that rabbit doing that to the guinea pig - they are both boys?" - they were not concerned about them being different species!

Who started this thread!!??

Rabbits eat their own poo to extract the last of the nutrients from it.

Have you ever seen a dog - even a puppy - eating its own excrement? I don't think I have. Other mammals? Probably not.

Three of the dogs I've had have all eaten poo - mainly cow poo but they seemed partial to horse poo as well. I did mention it to the vet when my youngest dog started doing it (and he's taken to eating his own as well about a year ago) and she didn't seem fussed by it all; she didn't give me a reason for him doing it either. It may be considered (by some) to be normal but I find it stomach-turning.

The vomit contains what they've just eaten. Could still be attractive!

Dogs will eat their own sick, though...

Have you ever seen a dog - even a puppy - eating its own excrement? I don't think I have. Other mammals? Probably not. Domestic cats usually bury theirs. It's unnatural.

Poo is an endless source of interest to children - I have found the wee side of potty training is relatively easy but the number 2s is more difficult. I once learned from a psychiatrist I worked with that children regard it as something of themselves which they are sometimes reluctant to let go of. Hence children with emotional difficulties will often try hang on to their poo and can become constipated.
Is the DGC on the OP anxious about anything, eg starting nursery or playgroup?

DGD2 is proving easy to potty train re weeing, but joyfully announces that she has done a poo in her pants and has to be discouraged from getting some out if I am not quick enough. She then carefully examines it (haven't known her eat any yet).

Eating it is not something I would encourage.

No its not sterile its teeming with bacteria some good some bad depending what you've been eating, how its been prepared, stored, served etc, who you've been mixing with (other people) and how you've been mixing, what floors you've crawled around on where animals may have been, shoes from other people who may have trodden in something and brought this in. This is waste matter and needs to be treated with respect and good hygiene. End of as they say!

This is a wind-up right? <Checks diary to see if April 1st>.
Recently we had a thread bemoaning the depiction of the elderly as gnarled old dears. Well add into that threads like this or the one about freeze drying lifers and you can add gaga to our attributes. And why oh why, GNHQ feature this daft discussion in your "highlights"? Is this a true flavour (oops bad pun) of what GN has to offer?

I would have thought it was sterile when leaving the body as is urine.
Im not qualified though so not sure. My friends daughter used to eat poo and give it to her friends like sweeties. My neighbours daughter (about 10 yrs old) made a sandwich to give to friends she did not like. !!

As a qualified Infection Control Nurse my thinking is that faeces will contain your own usual bacteria but contain almost anything else - there are no guarantees that its all your own and harmless- after all we are excreting this stuff because the body doesn't want it.

My DinL found one of my GSs smearing poo around his bedroom. On being asked why he was doing it he replied 'that's what the gorilla did at the zoo'.

We have all been banned from mentioning gorillas in their house again.

This has just reminded me of my Sister digging into her handbag and pulling out a coprolite, (fossilized poo) and handing over to our mother who was horrified when she learnt what it was. (My sister is also keen on Geology and collects rocks and fossils such things.)

Ah, I had no idea bad smells were learned.

When they are tiny they haven't yet learnt that certain smells are horrible.

Can't be a common thing for toddlers to do can it? I mean surely the smell?

Eugh!

Coprophagia: eating ones own poo. It is not harmful to eat your own poo as it contains the bacteria already present in your gut. It's not very tasty though, is it. That being said I've never tried it myself.

It is not normal. I don't think it will do any harm, but ought to be discouraged as it is not socially acceptable. There is a proper scientific term for it. I'll get back to you when I remember it.

I knew someone who dropped a chocolate on the floor, picked it up and dusted it off and popped it in his mouth - but his little dog had left a little whoopsy . . .

Apparently it was utterly revolting.

Starling I have to ask. How does anyone know whether the flavour is bad or not? Most people have never tried it. (thankfully)

If it is because the poo is coming out in little round dobbles, and he thinks it looks like sweets, he is constipated. Give him more drink.