our friends at the Michigan Humane
Society are here with answers to our
viewer questions about their pets
welcome back dr. Kelly Meyers a
veterinarian with the Michigan Humane
Society thank you for coming in oh
you're welcome it's like having you
alright let's start with Stephanie I got
this one all right go ahead all right
she has a question about her Shepherd
mix who appears to enjoy eating her own
poop yes I said it she is fed the
recommended amount of dog food has dog
bones enjoys occasional treats and
snacks is this normal
so this is actually more common than you
think
right so the good news is that it
probably isn't going to cause any harm
okay as long as we're eating our own
poop if we're eating other dog's poop
then that could be a problem because
that might have bacteria or parasites or
something in it also if your dog is
eating their own poop then they're gonna
have it in their mouth so if they're
licking you on your face or on your hand
so just be careful with that but more
more importantly there's a there can be
a cause for this so there's usually two
reasons that we could get this so either
medical or behavioral and I really
wanted to talk about the the medical
side of this because this guy is a
German Shepherd and German Shepherds can
get something called malabsorption
because of exocrine pancreatic
insufficiency so lots of words that just
mesa Calise that the pancreas isn't
working correctly so that means that it
can't absorb the nutrients out of the
food so we're eating the food but the
nutrients are going right out and so
then they eat the poopoo Chi I need
those nutrients okay so definitely need
to get this guy in to see a veterinarian
to make sure that's not what's going on
but usually it's a behavioral thing so a
couple behavioral issues could be that
it's just kind of fun for them right
like toys they play with her poop
unfortunately or it could be that dogs
mark their territory with both urine and
poop so they could be the opposite of
marking their territory is that they
have a fear of a predator in the area so
they might actually be eating their
their poop just to get rid of that Oh
all right show's over folks exactly our
next question is from Kimberly her
seven-year-old cat named boo doesn't
have fleas but is scratching herself so
badly that her fur is falling out yeah
so the last time we talked about hair
falling out without it Qing this time
this guy is absolutely itching sounds
like it's not fleas so we probably have
allergies going on it's allergy season
so everybody is you know we're sneezing
your eyes are getting watery so with our
cats and dogs they itch so need to get
them in to see a veterinarian to take a
look at that so other things could be
like lice or section or something like
that but probably more like more likely
out allergies yeah eyes are itching
maybe a little itchy
exactly it's spring it's time our final
question is from Nancy who says that her
12 year old dog has arthritis he's
already taking Rimma dil and glucosamine
and wonders if there is ways to learn
you know doggie massages to help him
further yeah so arthritis is really
frustrating for owners because it's so
painful for dogs and so the remodel is a
great start that's gonna help with the
pain and inflammation the glucosamine is
gonna help lube up the joints a little
bit what arthritis is is when the
cartilage starts to wear away and you
have bone grinding on bone and that's
really painful so there are great other
things that they can do and massage is
one of them it's fantastic so there are
a couple locations in the greater
Detroit area that are certified k9
massage therapists that can do that and
then they can give you some tips to take
home that you can do on your dog at home
to kind of give them more comfort other
things that you can do is hydrotherapy
so it's about to be nice outside you can
take them for a swim that's low-impact
builds a muscle and it helps with the
pain and other things would be like
acupuncture or acupressure so those are
other things that you could do at home
or go to a vet and do yeah that's great
all right if you have questions about
your pet post a photo of them along with
your question on our live in the D
Facebook page that's right the Michigan
Humane Society has veterinary care
services at their locations in Westland
Rochester Hills and Detroit to learn
more about the services they offer and
make an appointment visit their website
Michigan
humane dot-org doc thank you so much you
always have the best answer yeah you're
welcome have a great day