Eating Dog/Cat Droppings

[rwfoss]

So, I haven't noticed this the first few times that Petunia has been given the back yard to roam in, but today it has become a problem. I try to keep the yard fairy free of the dog poop. Plus, we used to have our cats in the backyard occasionally, and they would bury their business. I think this is what Petunia is unearthing is old cat poop. I take it from her when I see her eating it, by with our yard having a lot of small rocks, the old doo-doo blends in well.

Long way to ask how dangerous ingesting the occasional nugget is for Petunia?

 

[ChiKat]

I'm not sure but I would say pretty dangerous...especially since dogs take things like Heartworm medicine that could be fatal to a tortoise.
Is there an area in your yard you could block off so that your dog does not have access to it?
Even if you picked up the poop I would still not let your tortoise walk around...what if they ate grass/weeds that had been peed on? Not good.

 

[Tom]

Every tortoise I've ever had has done this from time to time and vice versa. At my old house where the dogs had free run of the tortoise pen, I never once had to pick up tortoise poo. Never saw any.

Anyhow, a little bit once in a while wont usually hurt them. Its not good for them and one should make every effort to try to prevent it, but they do encounter and eat some dung out in the wild too. It has never had any effect at all on any of mine. They eat the grass and weeds with residual pee too, I'm sure. No ill effect.

Your tortoise eats all sorts of things when you let them out side. I've seen all kinds of stuff in their poo that I didn't even know was there until they pooped it out. Cigarette butts, pieces of plastic, a mylar Dorito bag, lots of little pebbles and rocks. I would NEVER allow any of those things in my pens, much less let them eat it, but whoomp!, there it is.

 

[rwfoss]

I was wondering about then eating that stuff in the wild. I imagine there would be a variety of stuff to choose from. And maybe I was just noticing it more today, but I thought I should ask.

 

[Shelly]

Mine eats dog crap all the time. it makes me want to gag, but it has never hurt him.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I don't let Bob go to my sons house because of all the dog crap there and he uses Ivermectin which can be fatal for tortoises. I know that what Shelly and Tom have said is true, but I don't like it and don't have to let Bob eat it. So basically it's up to you. But remember the Ivermectin part...

 

[Laura]

Cat poop has a lot of Protein in it...

 

[rwfoss]

Cat poop has a lot of Protein in it...

Good thing I'm not on Atkins anymore!

When we had our cat Charlie, he and our other male would go outside with the dogs and do their business outside too. They never tried getting out of the yard. Charlie passed away in October of '09 and since then, the other male and our new cat decided they would hop the fence, so they are strictly indoor cats now. Not sure how much is left out there that we didn't catch, but I'm hoping not too much!

 

[matt41gb]

My big sulcata eats my dog's poop all the time. It's not dangerous, and the Ivermectin obviously doesn't pass in the stools in amounts that can hurt your tortoise. I'll ask the vet tomorrow at work how it all works exactly. Ivermectin seems to stay in the bloodstream to kill any incoming microfilaria and slowly leaves the body over the course of the month. I'll know more tomorrow.

 

[dmmj]

Cat poop has a lot of Protein in it...

Makes one wonder how you know that? hmmmmmm