DIGESTIVE ENZYMES
By Alfred J. Plechner, D.V.M.
Did you ever wonder why your pet will eat its own stool or the stool of
others? The answer is fairly simple. If there is not enough digestive enzymes
being produced by the pancreas, the normal amount of ingested food is not going
to be completely broken down, allowing undigested food to end up in the stool.
The dog will realize that there is food in the stool, and eat it. If the dog
eats their own stool, they have the digestive enzyme deficiency. If the dog eats
another animals stool, that animal has the digestive enzyme deficiency.
Most dogs will eat cat feces, not because the cats may have a digestive
enzyme deficiency which is possible, but rather from the fact, that the protein
content is too high in cat foods, and the cats cannot digest some of the high protein, which will end up in their stool. This is why dogs enjoy eating
cat stool. Remember, if your dog has food sensitivities, and eats cat stool, the
undigested food may be allergenic for your dog. It obviously is a very
unpleasant "pastime" but could be very detrimental to a food sensitive dog. It
also makes some of us wonder, if we eat too much at meal time, or feed our pet
too much at meal time, will the normal amount of digestive enzyme be superseded
by the quantity of food ingested? The high protein content of cat food in the stool will cause
the dogs to ingest almost any cat stool.
Over the years, the usual recommendations include food additives that become
bitter in the stool, or actually add horrible condiments on to the stool
while it is lies on the ground. It would be much better to add a plant based,
digestive enzyme to each meal, to help with total breakdown and absorption of
the nutrients.
If you have more than one dog, by adding vegetable dye to the food, and
feeding separately, you will be able to determine who is doing what!
There are definitely other signs of an enzyme deficiency. Some of these signs
are reduced growth. Often you may see an animal that has bowed wrists and is cow
hocked, due to the lack of digestive enzymes, which allows for a "sludging
affect" to occur with the fatty acids. This "sludging affect", not only ties up
the fat soluble vitamins, but also stops calcium absorption. This lack of
calcium uptake, may lead to slack ligamentation and the clinical signs you are
seeing. Weight loss or lack of weight gain, plus voluminous stools, are further
indications of this deficiency. For more information on this problem, you may
want to check the Published Works page or consult with me.
Copyright ©2009
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