# Eating hair? My guess is that its due to the crazy 70 degree weather we had last week, but Joey has started blowing his coat yet again. He has taken to eating the hair he finds. I'm not concerned about it, but I'm wondering if there is any reason I should be. Can any of you guys think of a reason I should try t… ## Thread In Behavior · started by _dlroberts · 12 replies - **Category:** [Behavior](https://nihonken.org/community/c/behavior) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## _dlroberts · 2008-12-29T02:31:16.000Z My guess is that its due to the crazy 70 degree weather we had last week, but Joey has started blowing his coat yet again. He has taken to eating the hair he finds. I'm not concerned about it, but I'm wondering if there is any reason I should be. Can any of you guys think of a reason I should try to prevent him from doing so? ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-12-29T02:40:00.000Z other than hairy poops that can create poo dangles, no. ## xremii · 2008-12-29T03:42:19.000Z LOL LJ. Pong had the same thing happen the other week.. agh. It was my hair too. Honestly, who thinks hair is yummy? Pong's been blowing her coat for a couple of weeks now. We just furminated her and it seems like she's creating more hair as we furminate.. wtf! ## Leonberger (admin) · 2008-12-29T05:43:30.000Z I'm with LJ. Other than bungee jumping waste, he should be fine. Kuma sometimes eats one or two threads of my or Nat's hair (length is pretty much the same so hard to tell, hehe) and then you know what happens. ## sujewel · 2008-12-29T07:03:11.000Z Well, I've never heard of dogs eating hair, but I suspect (especially with Shiba) that they eat their hair to keep their space clean. In cats, hairballs are not a light matter. Here's what I found doing a quick little search: Nothing is quite so alarming as hearing the "hack-hack-hack" of a cat trying to cough up a hairball. And almost nothing is as disgusting as seeing one on the floor, unless it is stepping on it at night in bare feet. Ughh! Seriously though, although hairballs may be the topics of jokes among thoughtless humans, they are a source of discomfort or worse, for cats. Hairballs pose a potential danger by blocking the passage of digested food through the intestines, causing an impaction. Hairballs are formed when a cat grooms itself and swallows hairs. Since hair is not easily digested, it can compact with undigested food in the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. Impactions are serious business, and sometimes must be removed surgically. In lesser cases they can cause painful constipation, something no concerned caregiver wants to wish on her cat. ## lindsayt · 2008-12-29T08:06:41.000Z Obsessive hair eating: trichotilomania. I think we call them "gastric trichobezoars" aka hariballs. Occasionally I have seen some cats that required enemas and disimpaction under anesthesia. More often I have seen this with rabbits requiring surgical intervention or euthanasia. I think dogs have big enough small bowels and their hair is not as fine so they should be able to pass it on thru as long as it isn't eating a huge pile (why?). ## Calia · 2008-12-29T10:01:01.000Z I heard somewhere that a lot of hair can get stuck in the intestinal tract and cause blockage. So far, that hasn't proved true with my pups, since they love to eat cat hair, dust bunnies and any hair left on the brush after brushing our own heads. Even if Joey is only trying to eat his hair, I'd keep an eye on him to prevent him from accidentally ingesting human hair. Unless everyone in your household maintains a nice buzz cut, the human hairs can kind of get stuck on the way out and dangle until either you or the pups can pull it out. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-12-29T14:40:37.000Z actually, and maybe its the difference is species - I'm not as educated as I'd like to be, but when I give my dogs prey food with fur still attached, I was told the fur is actually good for digestion and has added fiber.. having said that, Hachi would eat the hair she was always blowing, never enough that she could make a meal out of it, but enough that it came out quite obviously on the other end. My guess is that you, Dave, keep your place clean enough that he's only finding bits and pieces and it probably won't cause an issue. Can you ask him to 'leave it' and give him something much more tasty than hair when you catch him? Don't yank human hair!!!! It can sever organs! Let it pass naturally or Ask your vet! ## Calia · 2008-12-29T14:46:38.000Z Sorry, didn't mean yank, more so meant break or cut off what was hanging out or the pup will keep pulling at it or scoot till it's gone. Tikaani had a hanging hair that we didn't realize was there and cut himself scooting in the cement sidewalk. ## StaticNfuzz · 2008-12-29T16:15:22.000Z From what I have seen eating hair has nothing to do with dogs keeping their space clean or any calculated purpose at all. Dogs do goofy stuff and decide to taste all sorts of things. Actually as young dogs most chase after dust bunnies and fur because it is interesting as it tumbles about. Think of the dog when it plays with a toy and starts pulling the fuzz off. IMO Shibas are attracted to hair attached or not and find it super interesting as it tumble across the floor or yard. Once they get the fuzz stuck in their mouths the have a hard time extracting it and so they just swallow. Sometimes with heavy shedding Shibas will get furballs like cats do. A half a teasp of Laxistat or Laxitone every other day during shedding should work if the dog gets really bound up and has trouble eliminating. Snf ## _dlroberts · 2008-12-29T17:23:29.000Z Thanks guys! If I say "leave it" in a normal tone of voice, he will stop immediately---I don't even have to use my "I mean business" voice. He's blowing pretty heavily right now so there are clumps of hair all over the house, especially right after he has a good scratch. He generally won't go up to a clump of hair that is just sitting on the floor, but if its one that has just come out due to scratching and is still moving he is all over it. I've been watching his poops and they have been normal so far. I'll just keep an eye on things. Thanks again! ## sunyata · 2008-12-30T13:38:46.000Z I am glad my Shibas are not the only idiots blowing their coats in December. Bella does a pretty good job of not ingesting it, but Nola's poops are full of hair. However, I have never seen her actually eat it. So I am not sure exactly how she is eating it. ## CrimsonO2 · 2008-12-30T14:06:07.000Z "So I am not sure exactly how she is eating it." She isn't meticulous about grooming herself is she? Jesse --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)