8 Causes Of Cats Eat Their Own Poop

There's just the funny behavior of our beloved cat that makes us entertained. But not only entertaining, fur friends can also make the owner feel anxious with his strange and unusual behavior. One of the behaviors that make us anxious is that our beloved cat eats its own feces.

This behavior in animals is often called Coprophagia. Coprophagia in some other animals is normal. But in cats themselves, this behavior can be said to be deviant behavior. This behavior often occurs as a result of a pet cat experiencing stress and medical problems.

That's why when this happens to pet cats, we must be quick to find out why and immediately deal with it. Because if left alone the cat could be at risk of death. Then why do cats eat their own feces and how to deal with it ? To find out, Good Readers, you can listen to Angora's article below until the end.

8 Causes Of Cats Eat Their Own Poop

The behavior of cats eating feces is not something normal for cats. Unless the cat eats her child's feces, where the child is still breastfeeding then this is a normal and common thing for mother cats to do.

This is done by the mother cat to clean her kittens from dirt and also as an effort to help the kitten learn to defecate on its own. This is also done by the mother cat in an effort to keep the kitten healthy.

Then what is the reason why cats eat their own feces ? Here are some of the main reasons why cats eat their own feces :

• Certain Vitamin Deficiencies ( Vitamin Deficiency )

• Thyroid Disease

• Sugar Disease ( Diabetes )

• Lack of Nutrition ( Malnutrition )

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease ( a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract )

• Lack of Blood ( Anemian )

• Nerve Disorders ( Neurological Disease )

• Stress

There is also another possible cause of Coprophagia behavior in cats, namely Pica. Namely extreme conditions where cats eat food that is not food such as eating dirt, rubber bands, small plastic, cloth and similar objects.

Pica's condition is triggered by an obsessive compulsive disorder in which the cat is unable to control its own desire not to eat ordinary or strange objects that are not food.

How Veterinarians Determine The Cause Of Corophagia In Cats ?

First, the doctor will ask several things related to the cat's current condition, then the doctor will examine the cat's physical condition and then conduct a series of medical tests. These medical tests include haematology and blood tests.

The doctor will also provide the cat owner with a treatment plan which includes diet, special foods, and exercise schedule for the cat. Not only that, the doctor will also give a short and simple lesson about Coprophagia to add insight to the owner.

How To Overcome Coprophagia In Cats ?

If you are sure that the cause is not disease or you want to try to overcome the cat's habit of eating its own feces while treating the cat. Then you can try some of the ways below :

1. Clean Up Cat Litter As Soon As Possible

The first way to prevent or deal with cats from eating their feces is to remove them as soon as possible. Immediately after the cat has defecated, clean the cat litter. In this way the cat that had wanted to eat its own feces becomes unable to eat it.

Because when he was about to eat his poop he couldn't find any dirt around him to eat.

2. Clean The Litter Box Every Day

If you can't clean it as soon as possible then you can clean the litter box every day (once a day). Because sometimes Coprophagia behavior only occurs within a certain period of time, for example once a day or 2 times a day.

3. Make Cats Can't Touch Their Feces

Limit your cat's access to places where he usually litters. When he finishes defecating, you can move his litter box or store it in a certain room so he can't reach it.

4. Provide Nutritious Food

One of the reasons why cats eat their feces is due to vitamin deficiency and vitamin malnutrition. Providing nutritious and good food for the cat's digestion is one way to overcome this problem.

5. Increase Cat Feeding

When the cat is full, the cat will become more lazy to move, sleep more often and will not want to eat anymore, including eating its own feces. To make our cat can increase the portion of its food. After the cat stops eating feces, it is best to return the cat's feeding portion to the standard portion.

This is to prevent the cat from being overweight or obese and becoming a less active cat.

6. Ban Cats

Prohibiting cats from eating their feces is one of many proven effective ways to prevent cats from eating their own feces. The trick is to repel, prevent and splash the cat with water splashes when we see a cat about to eat its feces.

Do this method repeatedly every day then over time the cat will lose interest in eating its feces and return to normal as usual. This method must be done regularly and patiently in order to succeed

7. Give Snacks

The last method is similar to method number 5. The goal is the same, namely so that the cat is full and can't eat cat litter anymore. When the cat feels hungry, give the cat as much treats as he wants. Cats who feel full after eating snacks usually will not want to eat their feces again.

Cats will prefer to go to sleep, licking their bodies clean and busy lazing around. Maybe that's all the discussion about the causes why cats eat their own feces.

With this article, hopefully it can make you understand about this and you can overcome it easily. And add your insight and can be useful for you. Don't forget to share this article with relatives, friends, other cat lovers and also share it on your social media accounts.