We let our beloved pets sleep in our beds and sometimes lick our faces. But dogs and cats, after all, are just animals with some less than hygienic habits that might make us rethink those decisions, as a recent TikTok post demonstrates.
Brace yourselves, folks — because after you see what you’re about to watch, you won’t look at your dog the same way again. On TikTok, a house cat is trying to take a No. 2 in its box inside someone’s home and has caught the attention of what looks like a white, long-haired chihuahua. At one point, the dog takes — um, well, “fecal” matters into its own hands, or rather, mouth — and marches right up to the cat before it’s finished.
“Look what I got, ma!”
Yes, that’s right, as the poor housecat is trying to poop, the little chihuahua bites off the log straight from the source and then looks at the camera as if to say, “Look what I got, ma!” Ah, dogs and cats — they’re so adorable, right? The dog stands there momentarily with its cat-dookie cigar hanging from its mouth, and the clip ends. One can only imagine how long its owner chased it around the house, trying to retrieve it. Here’s hoping the little guy didn’t gulp the whole thing down.
Comments on the TikTok post said what we’re all thinking and made the ick worthwhile. One comment said, “Pups version of farm to table 😂.” Another added, “Didn’t even give it time to cool.” We agree with this comment, though: “This is a once in a lifetime event i could have 100% gone without seeing.”
Coprophagia is normal animal behavior
Even if the lil’ pup slurped the whole package down, eating poop or coprophagia is normal behavior for dogs and cats. While the dog on TikTok would likely be fine, eating feces carries the risk of bacteria and parasite infection, according to the American Kennel Club. So, if you see it happen, there’s no reason to rush Rover to a doggy psychologist, but maybe don’t encourage the behavior.
In another post about this peculiar aspect of animal appetite, the dog owner explains her dog ate its poop after she gave it a doggy breath freshener, proving it isn’t just other animal feces they will sometimes snack on but also their own. In her comments, one person suggested, “i think there is a ‘medicine’ or supplement that you can give him and it makes them not want to eat it?🤷♀️.” But another called it an “Infinite food source.”
So why do dogs and cats do it? They scavenge by instinct, and while feces smells bad to us, it might smell like cat or dog food to the animal, or in other words, they just scored a tasty treat. Eating poop also helps develop a healthy gastrointestinal tract, and our beloved pets do lick their butts to keep clean — just like their mommies taught them to do — so their systems aren’t as sensitive as ours.
