We have found that there is probably no greater discussion that pet owners have with one another than that of their pet’s poop. When you go on every pet chat online, at the dog park, and at any pet friendly event, stories about poop are prevalent. You may ask, “Why so much poop talk?”
The basic underlying reason is most pet owners use it to judge their pet’s health conditions. Everyone is seeking a perfect bowel movement. If the poop is the wrong color, size, consistency, off schedule, contains blood or mucous or deviates in any other way, we are led to believe there is a problem. Is it really a problem or even a true indicator of poor health or illness? Is there actually a perfect poop?
A visual perception of our pet’s stool is important however, we must also understand the reason it varies or remains the same. Realistically, all types of poop are perfect! The reason is because without the act of excretion, all creatures would not survive. Feces or poop, is a combination of all kinds of metabolic debris derived from indigestible foods, dead and diseased cellular matter and mucous as well as components of other ingested material that is not required by the body. Just as our trash bags will vary in content from day to day, month to month and year to year, feces will vary in the same manner. Because of this, poop’s consistency is not a measure of our pet’s health but of the condition of the body.
Similarly, we all need to understand that the act of vomiting and diarrhea are nothing more than the body purging itself of unwanted or potentially harmful substances in an express fashion. These actions are an event and not normally a “condition.” Sometimes it is nothing more than your pet’s way of regurgitating, however we definitely need to focus on identifying what it really is and the cause of this sudden and abrupt purge. We tend to look at the food first, however we need to understand that the food is only the vehicle for removing the problem. Our pets come into contact with hundreds of toxins every day and the body must defend against them. Many people also feed their pets inappropriate foods laced with chemicals and indigestible, harmful ingredients. They are exposed to toxins and poisons in the form of insecticides, vermicides, and drugs that pets must cleanse from their bodies. The makers of these products often add chemicals that will disguise or prevent the body from rejecting these products, thereby resulting in the purging to be even more explosive when it does occur thus creating an illusion of a very unhealthy pet.
Many of you will be astonished to learn that the medical approach is the opposite of what our pets require. Their bodies simply need to expel these assaulting compounds. Unfortunately, they are generally treated by trying to prevent the body from doing this with even more unnatural chemicals. Diagnosticians never look at what the actual cause could be. Common sense would tell us that clean, uncontaminated, minimally processed species appropriate foods can only benefit our pets and our own bodies as well.
While no one likes to clean up vomit or diarrhea, making the stool unnaturally hard to facilitate clean up is unhealthy. Understanding the true physiological nature of our pets is paramount and should be respected to maintain optimal health. So next time your pet has an accident, feel relieved that the bad stuff is out and cannot now cause a liver, kidney or cancer disease.
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