cross-posted from: https://lemmy.stad.social/post/21952
From last year sometime, I think.
this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2023
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Pica is an issue that you can work on. No animal should have it.
Pica is eating things that are not food, but as pointed out in the article I linked, eating dog poo is providing a significant source of nutrition for foxes. In those circumstances, it by definition is not pica.
Poo is not food, I'm extremely concerned that you've got to adulthood without anyone telling you this. Do not eat poo.
No need to make personal attacks. Cecotrophy is a common phenomenon in certain animals. I don't know specifically about foxes but it wouldn't be a stretch if it was common behavior for them. Do you have any sources that suggest otherwise?
Herbivores taking more time to digest greenery is really not related to eating the poo of another animal due to nutritional deficiency. It's a silly comparison.
Fair enough. How about this:
"Domesticated and wild mammals are sometimes coprophagic, and in some species, this forms an essential part of their method of digesting tough plant material.
Some dogs may lack critical digestive enzymes when they are only eating processed dried foods, so they gain these from consuming fecal matter. They only consume fecal matter that is less than two days old which supports this theory."