My dog chews and eats paper towels, paper and cardboard. Should I be worried?

[Baitball Blogger]

Damn, they really do eat homework. Obviously I try to stop the behavior when I see it, but she usually gets a few swallows down before I can get to her.

She is a rescue and was starved by previous owners who abandoned her, but she has been fed well since I got her. Even gained eight pounds in one month.

[Downwinder]

1. It will pass.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Pulp-poo?

[Downwinder]

4. Straight through.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Yeah. Be careful. She could get a life threatening blockage.

A friend of mine's dog ate a part of a bath mat and had to have surgery.

Not to mention the expense.

My girl has been vomiting for a couple days. I just dropped $450 bucks for blood work and a nausea shot. She may need an X-ray to rule out other scary stuff if she doesn't improve.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. That worries me too.

On the good side she is on puppy food, which is high in protein. So, lots of opportunities to unload.

[Laffy Kat]

12. Oh no. It so sad when a dog is sick.

They don't understand what's happening or that we are trying to help. Breaks my heart. My girl is chronically ill due to her Addison's but she does well with her meds. She gets a Percorten shot once a month and low-dose prednisone every day and will have to for the rest of her life. (I always tell people with throwing-up dogs to make sure the vets rule-out Addison's. It can be a tricky diagnoses until they look at the electrolytes; the Na and K are messed up). The good news is that we can treat this. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. Thanks. I was pretty upset last night.

She threw up a couple times Thursday and once Friday. We figured she was done. Nothing Saturday. Then she threw up yesterday before dinner. So we withheld dinner and breakfast today.

Wtf. Scary. Was debating taking her to the Er last night.

Her appetite has been fine through out. She was acting a little weird yesterday but she is spunky today. We gave her boiled hamburger for dinner today.

She has always had a delicate stomach. She never gets table scraps. She has been on sweet potatoes for about 6 years since we realized she was alergic to grains. The sweet potatoes were a miracle. Before sweet potatoes, we couldn't get her diarrhea under control.

[trof]

6. Only if she craps drywall.

I'm sorry.
Really.
I've been drinking.
I shouldn't have replied.
Move along.
Pay no attention to this post.
Thank you.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. My lab eats paper napkins and sometimes other paper stuff-- Kleenex, newspapers, books, etc.

Not nearly as much as he used to but I can almost guarantee if I leave a napkin on the edge of the table he'll grab it eventually. It's never hurt him and I've accepted that he's a generally well behaved dog who occasionally does something dumb.

A year or so back he ate a good sized stuffed toy and couldn't pass it for a few days (had x-rays done and it seemed to be safe to let things run their course). Meanwhile lots of barfing.

[Mendocino]

8. You need to prevent this.

Put all paper away, in drawers, closets or close doors. A stomach blockage can kill her. Plus in paper you may have staples. Bleached products like paper towels can have dioxin in it. I would provide chew toys as a substitute. Talk to your vet about how to avoid this behavior.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. I do have chew toys for her, and sometimes it works.

[Major Nikon]

14. Adult dogs chew things when they are nervous and/or bored

Puppies do so for the same reasons, or they may be teething if less than 12 months old.

Taking them for walks frequently, playing with them until they are exhausted, and having more than one dog helps. Rawhide chew treats also helps. Even though I keep my current border collie occupies as often as I can, she still needs a steady supply of rawhide treats to chew on or she will start chewing on other things.

[Baitball Blogger]

15. All of the above.

She is under 12 months, so I hope things will get better over time.

[Laffy Kat]

19. Mine starts licking when she is about to fall asleep.

For her it seems to be kind of like a pacifier. She'll start licking her paws, the bed, ME, and in a few minutes puts herself to sleep. If she does it when it is not bed or nap time it means she is stressed or bored and I have to occupy her with something. I just loves her to pieces.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Our Golden Retriever has been doing that for 10 years now.

He likes to "skin" a cardboard piece, tears off little nibble size pieces, so has not swallowed anything very big.
Doesn't actually swallow much of it, he leaves most of the stuff lying around on teh floor, uses it as a "trade" for a biscuit crumb.
Once, and only once, he heaved up a too ambitious chewing session.
Actually, he chews some pieces, like gum, happily chomping for many minutes.

Loves fabric, we forbid, it, he occasionally sneaks some fallen potholder or washcloth and tears it into strips, but prefers his "box" pieces.

So, when you say your dog "eats" the stuff, depends on size of pieces , and your anxiety level, whether it is worrisome.

[Laffy Kat]

13. Watch out for gum with Xylitol. The stuff kills dogs. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. He does not chew gum. n/t

[Laffy Kat]

11. My catahoula mix does the same thing.

She's on prednisone for her Addison's and is always starving poor thing. She will eat tissues and toilet paper. What's really gross is that she only seems to go for used ones. The more human, ah, residue on them the better. I stop her when I see her do it, but I'm sure a lot gets by me. The only thing I noticed is that sometimes when she poops she gets dingle berries (sorry but true). Dogs are disgusting and yet we love them anyway.

[mike dub]

16. Hi Baitball Blogger

Our dachshund loves eating kleenexes and chewing on paper towels, and our treeing walker coonhound loves chewing on paper bowls and ripping and chewing on cardboard. For our coonhound, I think it's a toy thing … like a cheap paper Toy to naw on. I don't think it's a bad thing. Our dogs do gain a little weight in the winter time (+ during daylight-Losing-time) here in North Carolina because they're not out back, running around as much, but I don't think it's because of the paper chewing.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. Thanks for the information!

Someone suggested that she might have some treeing walker coonhound, but only a DNA test will say for sure.

[hopemountain]

21. it may be a "comfort food" type of

behavior she developed when starving and probably satisfying the hunger with cardboard or paper. even though she may not be starving at this time - there may be something triggering a level of stress (such as needing some exercise or fresh air) or, she's happy and paper or cardboard are her toys.

it does not seem harmful other than a bit destructive if the paper is important. dogs do need something to chew on and it may also help to keep her gums and teeth in good health - better than splintery sticks.

[a la izquierda]

22. Just watch to make sure she doesn't get a blockage.

Two of my dogs have epilepsy. For the big guy, he gets regular, grand mal seizures. The other has focal seizures and when he has them, he will lick the floor incessantly, or eat things he's not supposed to (pieces of berber carpet, blankets, linoleum...) He had a blockage from the berber carpet and now we have to watch him like crazy and make him vomit any time we suspect that he's had an episode.

[Phentex]

23. Our lab did this forever...

I think she liked the feel of it on her teeth. Once when she was outside, she chewed up a box of lawn bags, leaving the roll of bags completely intact.

[shenmue]

24. Squeaky toys are better

[LiberalEsto]

25. Make sure it's organic and non-GMO n/t