Animal Eating Disorder
By misscadillac
@misscadillac (42)
United States
August 11, 2010 12:11pm CST
I have three dogs, one lab and two mixed breed. One of the mixed breed seems to have a sensitive stomach. He frequently gets sick and is very picky when it come to food, very unlike my other two dogs, who will eat just about anything with no hesitation. I recently noticed that before this dog usually gets sick he eats grass. He knows it makes him sick and no matter how much we try to stop him he will try to sneak a few bites of grass when he thinks we aren't looking. Does he do this on purpose because he is already feeling sick and wants to throw up to alleviate this feeling or does he just like the taste of grass? Does anyone else have a pet who has this issue?
3 responses
@misscadillac (42)
• United States
12 Aug 10
Thank you everyone for your feedback. I always thought it was kind of strange, but knew there must have been a bigger reason behind it, other than stupidity. I will try to change up his diet, the last thing I want is for him to suffer.
And to the last comment, dogs are not dangerous, people who raise dogs with the intentions of making them dangerous, are dangerous. Point blank.
@Geomos (322)
• South Africa
11 Aug 10
I was told by my vet that dogs will eat grass to irritate the throat and stomach which in turn brings on the vomiting.
Maybe your mixed is allergic to something in the diet, try changing the diet for a week or so and see if that helps. I have a rescued jack russel who was very sick when I got him and very sensitive to dog food, especially pellets, so I reared him on chicken and rice. Today he is a lively healthy dog who eats dog food but obviously prefers chicken and rice.
@lissa12p (99)
• Philippines
11 Aug 10
You know I also noticed my mixed breed eat grass when she feels sick. Totally can't find the reason why...I have a german shep, a lab and a chihuahua. But they don't munch on grass when they're sick.
And after my mixed breed eats a couple and barf it or you know hehe.... she'll be up and about in no time :)
But I think it's our pet's way of trying to self medicate. Dogs tend to fast when they don't feel so well. And it does wonders for them :) As well as occasionally eating grass :)
Some suggest that dogs eat grass to clean their insides and not merely because of nutritional imbalance. Hence if you've noticed that such behavior has been going on for some time already, and your pet still isn't eating properly - better have her/him checked by a vet just to be safe :)
