8/31/2023 0 Comments Pica definition horses![]() If you suspect that your cat may have pica, you should not delay in getting them to the vet as soon as possible. Unsurprisingly, cats eating non-nutritional items is one of the most common reasons for a trip to the vet. In humans, it’s commonly reported among pregnant women, but cats and dogs can have pica too.įeline pica is a common condition that presents as a cat that will obsessively eat nonfood items like plastic, paper, cables, plants, grass, and even fabric.Ĭonsuming items that aren’t edible might seem like a harmless eccentricity, but it can lead to some serious health conditions like intestinal obstructions, poisoning, and other physical injuries that, if left unchecked, can be fatal. Pica is an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive urge to eat items that are not typically food. If you’ve ever witnessed your cat eating anything that isn’t what you’d assume to be edible, then your cat may have pica. Wait a second… Is that cat eating the yarn? That can’t be right. In addition, providing plenty of opportunities for effective foraging and chewing, along with a varied healthy diet with plenty of roughage, usually helps relieve both the nutrition and boredom factors.Picture a gorgeous, fluffy feline playfully batting and chasing a ball of yarn. Working with a veterinarian who has a background in equine nutrition and can give advice about properly increasing the intake of salt and trace minerals in the horse's diet might be necessary. If an adult horse begins indulging in coprophagy, access to forage and other diversions may put a stop to the behavior. If a foal or horse begins chewing on the tail or mane, cayenne pepper or commercially-available compounds with foul-tasting ingredients may be applied to ward off bored or playful pasture mates and prevent this bad habit. Developing a good diet that furnishes the proper amounts of salt and trace elements will keep the horse from developing cravings that may drive it to lick, chew, and ingest non-food items in the environment.īeing aware of a horse's need to chew and providing for a variety of chewing experiences, such as offering items like carrots and long-stemmed foliage, will help satisfy the horse's impulses. Making sure that the horse's diet contains all the necessary nutrients for good health appears to be the most important part of prevention. ![]() The primary concern with foals that consume feces from their dams is parasite infestation. Too much ingestion of hair can cause digestive problems.Ĭoprophagy, or the ingestion of feces, by foals may be a normal developmental activity, as the foal naturally establishes a microbial population in the intestinal tract by this behavior. Mane and tale chewing often begins as a foal matures and may be caused by boredom or playfulness. Although this ingestion and eventual excretion may not always create problems for the horse, foreign objects may cause impaction or precipitate formation of a mass capable of occluding the colon of the horse. Some horses are naturally more inquisitive than others and may lick or ingest foreign objects as another way of satisfying curiosity or relieving boredom. If not remedied, the horse can become seriously ill and its immune system may be compromised.Įxtended periods of confinement in stables or corrals, coupled with little or no forage rich in fiber, may lead to wood chewing which may be evidence of a depraved appetite. Horses with severe salt or other mineral deficiencies brought on by low salt/mineral intake and profuse sweating become exhausted and performance declines markedly. Small amounts of copper, cobalt, zinc, iodine, iron, manganese, and selenium are universally recognized as being essential in a horse's diet and without these minerals, a horse may turn to ingesting dirt and other substances to satisfy its appetite.Įxpression of pica behavior sometimes indicates an underlying health problem. Many horse owners and veterinarians believe that when a horse has deficiency in salt and essential trace elements, this deprivation may result in depraved appetite symptoms. ![]() The condition may also develop due to underlying health problems or boredom. Among them are deficiencies in salt and trace minerals, inadequate amounts of fiber in the diet, and a lack of opportunity to engage in a satisfying amount of chewing.
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