Characterisation of plant eating in dogs

Sueda, Karen Lynn C.; Hart, Benjamin L.; Cliff, Kelly D.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2007.05.018

Cited by 35 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It was found that only 9 per cent of the planteating dogs regularly appeared ill prior to eating plants and only 22 per cent regularly vomited afterwards; the great majority appeared normal [38]. An important finding was that dogs under 1 year of age ate plants much more frequently than the older dogs and were even less likely to appear ill beforehand or vomit afterwards (figure 3).…”

Section: Natural Defence Strategies In Animals Against Pathogens and mentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Contrary to common beliefs the behaviour is not typically preceded by signs of illness nor followed by vomiting; the dogs are usually normal in behaviour, as reported by the owners. Plant eating would appear to be a behaviour inherited from wild ancestors that, in nature, had a role in maintaining low intestinal parasite loads [38]. Photo courtesy of Sheila D'Arpino, of her dog Cinco.…”

Section: Natural Defence Strategies In Animals Against Pathogens and mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Behavioural defences in animals against pathogens and parasites: parallels with the pillars of medicine in humans

Hart

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

160

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

No other theme in animal biology seems to be more central than the concept of employing strategies to survive and successfully reproduce. In nature, controlling or avoiding pathogens and parasites is an essential fitness strategy because of the ever-present disease-causing organisms. The diseasecontrol strategies discussed here are: physical avoidance and removal of pathogens and parasites; quarantine or peripheralization of conspecifics that could be carrying potential pathogens; herbal medicine, animal style, to prevent or treat an infection; potentiation of the immune system; and care of sick or injured group members. These strategies are seen as also encompassing the pillars of human medicine: (i) quarantine; (ii) immune-boosting vaccinations; (iii) use of medicinal products; and (iv) caring or nursing. In contrast to animals, in humans, the disease-control strategies have been consolidated into a consistent and extensive medical system. A hypothesis that explains some of this difference between animals and humans is that humans are sick more often than animals. This increase in sickness in humans leading to an extensive, cognitively driven medical system is attributed to an evolutionary dietary transition from mostly natural vegetation to a meat-based diet, with an increase in health-eroding free radicals and a dietary reduction of free-radical-scavenging antioxidants.

show abstract

Section: Natural Defence Strategies In Animals Against Pathogens and mentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Natural Defence Strategies In Animals Against Pathogens and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural defences in animals against pathogens and parasites: parallels with the pillars of medicine in humans

Hart

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

160

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Leaf swallowing was also observed in other animal species such as wolves and dogs (Sueda et al 2008) and was described in the North American brown bear and Canadian snow goose, as a habit for expelling other tapeworm species (see Huffman 1997). In the latter two species, leaves of a species of the Gramineae, typically eaten as food in spring when young and nutritious, were folded and swallowed in the fall when they had become too tough to chew and were void of nutritional value (B Gilbert and J Holmes, personal communication;cited in Huffman (1997)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In both species, this was associated with the mass expulsion of tapeworms before hibernation in bears and winter migration in snow geese (see Huffman 1997). Grass eating by wolves was similarly reported in the context of parasite expulsion (Murie 1944), where it was suggested to be a normal feeding behavior stemming from innate behavior in ancestral canids (Bjone et al 2007;Sueda et al 2008), and a response to a fiber-deficient diet (Kang et al 2007) in domestic dogs. Ingestion of grass as an emetic was not supported by recent studies on domestic dogs (Bjone et al 2007;Sueda et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf swallowing and parasitic infection of the Chinese lesser civet Viverricula indica in northeastern Taiwan

Huffman

2013

Zool. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Ingestion of plant parts purportedly for their non-nutritive and/or bioactive properties has been widely reported across the animal kingdom. Many of these examples are viewed as behavioral strategies to maintain health by controlling the level of parasite infections. One such behavior is leaf swallowing, the folding and swallowing of whole leaves without chewing. Void of any nutritional benefit, defecation of the whole leaves is associated with the physical expulsion of intestinal parasites. Fecal samples of the Chinese lesser civet Viverricula indica were collected along a fixed transect line monthly for 17 months in the Fushan Experimental Forest, northeastern Taiwan. We inspected samples for the occurrence of undigested leaves and parasite worms to test the possible antiparasitic function of the behavior in this species. Results: Of the collected feces, 14.3% contained whole, folded, undigested leaves of grass. The co-occurrence of undigested grass and Toxocara paradoxura worms in the feces was statistically significant. Adult worms of T. paradoxura were trapped inside the fecal-grass mass or on the surface of leaves in these samples. Increases in the T. paradoxura prevalence and infection intensity were associated with a higher presence of whole leaves in the feces. Conclusions: Reported for the first time in the context of self-medication for civet species, we propose that swallowing grass may facilitate expulsion of adult worms of T. paradoxura, which resembles behaviors widely reported in African great apes, bears, and geese.

show abstract

“…Exposure to the link and willingness to participate likely skew the data in favor of guardians very interested in cats in general and, in particular, their cats. However, Internet surveys have been used to collect data for research in veterinary medicine (e.g., Jehn et al, 2003;Sueda, Hart, & Cliff, 2008;Tynes, Hart, & Bain, 2007). Internet approaches can provide access to samples and computerized processing of data that far exceed what is possible by more traditional techniques (Rankin et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship Between Coat Color and Aggressive Behaviors in the Domestic Cat

Stelow

Bain

Kass

2015

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Characterisation of plant eating in dogs

Cited by 35 publications

References 22 publications

Behavioural defences in animals against pathogens and parasites: parallels with the pillars of medicine in humans

Behavioural defences in animals against pathogens and parasites: parallels with the pillars of medicine in humans

Leaf swallowing and parasitic infection of the Chinese lesser civet Viverricula indica in northeastern Taiwan

The Relationship Between Coat Color and Aggressive Behaviors in the Domestic Cat

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About