# Dogs Eating Rabbit Poop



## bbkaren (Oct 28, 2008)

Hi all, another newbie question.

I've been throwing the rabbit pellets in the yard when I clean hutches, since I've read that they're great fertilizer and don't need to be aged before putting on plants.

My dogs run around sniffing the poop and pick them up here and there to eat them. I don't know what criteria they use to select some poops and not others...but they eat probably 50 nuggets or so each time I clean.

They seem fine. At first I figured they'd eat themselves ill and that'd get them over the obsession. But it's been over a month now and they still love the poop (well, some of the poop).

It's gross.

But, my main issue, I guess, is will it hurt them? As I mentioned, they seem fine so far. Just wondering if others have the same experience.

Thanks for all your insight!


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

won't hurt 'em.


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## bluemoonluck (Oct 28, 2008)

Mine do the same thing.....I've joked that I could dry rabbit poo and sell it as "all natural doggie treats," probably make a fortune doing it too


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## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Probably not getting enough cat in their diet...


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

Nature's raisins; when cats poop in the sand volleyball court at the park, we call it almond roca for the dog


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## Ozarkquilter46 (Jun 5, 2002)

My dogs do the same thing. I tell them I don't give puppy kisses to dogs that think rabbit poo is snakletts LOL


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## menagerie momma (Sep 29, 2008)

Same here - I think they prefer it to the standard fare some days! LOL

Jessie


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

When a predator kills, the first consumed is the stomach and intestines which is where the vitamins that carnivors can't get any other way are contained. Rabbit poop is basically Alfalfa that is partially digested and formed into little round balls. I used to say that all a rabbit did was get the pellet wet and change its shape. Crush a dried one and it looks amazingly like finely ground alfalfa.


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## emptycupranch (Jul 13, 2008)

One of my pugs comes with me to do chores and she always runs to beat me to the rabbits for her 'bunny treats'. She has gained so much weight since we got the bunnies! Other than that it hasn't hurt her a bit - it is just natural for them!


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

I read that rabits eat their own pellets. Apparantly their systems are not as efficient as true rumenants at digesting roughage. They need two rounds to get the full nutrition.

My Wife's Dad had a dog that always hung around the calves in spring.
As soon as they pooped that milk poop that they have the first few weeks the dog would start licking. Reminded me of a kid licking ice cream.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

My dogs pick the cat litter for me. I even have an enclosed box, but catch 'em at it all the time. Pretty gross, but I have heard there are some nutrients in there the doggies want.

Be very careful with dogs eating horse poop/cow poop. Wormers excreted in the poo can kill a dog. Only reason I know that is a friend lost a dog that way, according to the vet.


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## Xandras_Zoo (Jul 21, 2004)

My dogs have been eating it for years as well. It won't hurt them. Maybe the rabbits could pass worms to the dogs, but other than that? Not that I know of. As was mentioned before, all rabbit crap is is plant matter that has gone through a rabbit.

I draw the line at cat crap. I had to teach my dog a good lesson that raiding the kitty litter box is forbidden... it disgusted me when he came up happily panting with his breath smelling like crap... dogs are truly some of the most disgusting creatures ever to walk the face of the earth.


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## morgansrgr8 (Oct 14, 2008)

Xandras_Zoo said:


> dogs are truly some of the most disgusting creatures ever to walk the face of the earth.



I think chickens are the worst offenders They eat anything and everything but then again you dont have a chicken jumping up to give you a big kiss on the cheek. :nono:

Linda


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## jil101ca (Jul 2, 2007)

At my place we call the all natural dog treats "Puppie Puffs", don't ya think they look like Cocoa Puffs? I don't buy that cereal anymore just for that reason lol


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

postroad said:


> My Wife's Dad had a dog that always hung around the calves in spring.
> As soon as they pooped that milk poop that they have the first few weeks the dog would start licking. Reminded me of a kid licking ice cream.


Last year I raised 10 boer goat bummer kids off a big commercial operation. We had to keep them separate from our herd, so we had our own little shelter across the property for them. Our lab would walk out there with us, and as the kids nursed on the lambar in a big circle, he would walk from behind to behind around the circle, washing fannies, his tail wagging furiously the whole time. My daughter claimed he was a good daddy, I claimed this was his own personal "candy machine".


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Umm, tasty!


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Bud D Dawg loves his "cocoa puffs" and eats them regularly. It doesn't hurt him at all; rabbit poo is high in protein, and you can let the chickens pick through it too.

Postroad, rabbits don't eat their bunny berries, but do eat their first morning movement as it comes out. These "cecotropes" are different in texture and content than the regular droppings. They aid in maintaining proper intestinal flora.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

What happenes to the rabbits in raised hutches where the morning glories drop through to the ground? Or are they actually eating as you state "as it comes out"?


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## bbkaren (Oct 28, 2008)

I think the poop that the rabbits eat, is different looking. I've seen some poop from time to time that's sort of shiny and shaped differently. The round ones are dry and fibrous looking. The cecal stuff is, like, glossy and softer looking.

Assuming I'm thinking of the right stuff.

And apparently they eat it as it's coming out.

This thread is blecch... lol


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

One critters garbage is another critters lunch.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

postroad said:


> What happenes to the rabbits in raised hutches where the morning glories drop through to the ground? Or are they actually eating as you state "as it comes out"?


They actually eat it as it comes out -- and from the way they act, it's a pretty yummy treat. 

As you said, though, one critter's garbage is another critter's lunch. 

(And now I just thought about how much my goofy dog loves to eat Gritty Kitty Casserole... Bleh!)


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

And they say a dogs mouth is cleaner than a humans!


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

bbkaren said:


> I think the poop that the rabbits eat, is different looking. I've seen some poop from time to time that's sort of shiny and shaped differently. The round ones are dry and fibrous looking. The cecal stuff is, like, glossy and softer looking.
> 
> Assuming I'm thinking of the right stuff.
> 
> ...


Thee are three basic kinds of mammal intestinal tracts. 
The stomach-intestinal kind that humans (and pigs) have, which will digest no appreciable cellulose. 

The kind which cows sheep, and goats have in which various bacteria and protazoans inhibit in the ruemen (the first of 3 stomach-like organs before the true stomach) these are the best digesters of cellulose and complex carbohydrates, due to the action of the microbes which break down the celulose and release vitamins and digestible nutrients. Once these get to the true stomach and intestines they are digested by the animal in the same way as humans.

Rabbits and horses don't have a rumen, but are able to digest a fair amount of roughage because between the small and large intestines they have a (comparatively) large pouch-like organ called a cecum. Cellulose etc. is digested by microbes here but in a different manner than the ruminants (it is not recycled through by chewing cud) some of the released nutrients are absorbed through the large intestine, especially in the horse. Rabbits however, release the contents of the cecum through the large intestine at night and re-injest this concentrated matter of vitamins and carbohydrates so that it may be absorbed.

So... is anyone going to start a thread on puss-pimples


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

So rabbits do chew the crud, er cud, in a roundabout way.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Our dog eats bunny poop too, despite my trying to block off the area with plywood. He eats so much it gives him diarrhea, but it must taste good to him. I've also dumped bunny poop in the chicken pen and they ate it. But we like it on the garden best of all.


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