A walk in the park on an uneventful day turned blue recently, thanks to the efforts of an 18-month-old Australian Shepherd dog. The dog’s first motion of the day was the colour of cyan.
Naturally, Ozzy’s owner panicked (wouldnt you?). He called his father, who had looked after the dog the previous day, to be told that Ozzy had eaten some industrial chalk, also coloured cyan blue, and it was this that accounted for the oddly-coloured poop.
Fortunately for Ozzy everything returned to normal the following day.
What to look for in your dog’s poop
Cleaning up poop is without doubt one of the nastiest things about owning a dog. But it is also a necessary evil: we should think of it as an opportunity to gauge our pet’s health.
It may not sound appealing, but a quick glance at your dog’s poo before you throw it away can yield answers to the animal’s state of health. Our doing so also gives us a good idea of what, other than his dog food, he may have eaten!
Vet inspection
For centuries doctors have gauged the health of their patients by studying their fecal movements. In fact, medical scatology is still being practiced around the world.
Vets will use the same method to investigate the health of their patients. They look at the four Cs in the course of their investigations: Consistency, Coating, Contents and Colour.
Of Ozzy's motion they may have been surprised by its colour, but it was otherwise a healthy specimen.
