COPRO - NIL

HOW TO USE COPRONIL!! Simply sprinkle COPRO-NIL on to the animals normal food. Ensure that each meal is eaten and discard any food left over before the next meal. COPRO-NIL can be used with both wet and dry food. The faeces produced from this food will possess a very unpalatable taste. All animals in the household should be treated at the same time to ensure good re-enforcement of the unpalatable ‘message’. Remember that food takes 12 – 24 hours to pass through the digestive system so COPRO-NIL will only be effective after this ‘lag’ time. This product is not an enzyme mixture which can alter the normal digestive process. Dogs: One level teaspoon per day for every 10kg divided between feeds (generally recommended as twice a day) for 10 -14 days. Up to a maximum of 4 teaspoons per day. Sprinkle evenly on the dog food at each feed, (moisten dry food if necessary). Eg a 20kg dog fed twice a day would require one level teaspoon in each meal. This will usually curb coprophagy for months, often permanently. Very small dogs and puppies: In dogs and puppies less than 5kg the amounts of Copronil may be diffi cult to measure, so please contact your vet for advice. Cats: ½ level teaspoon per day, divided between the needs in a day for 5-7 days. Horses: 3 level teaspoons, morning and night, for 2-3 days may help to curb this habit. If the animal starts showing interest in faeces again after initial dosage, give ½ the initial dose for a further 10 – 14 days.     SAFETY Safe use in pregnant animals or animals intended for breeding has not been proven. If the condition of the animal worsens cease product administration and consult your vet. Consult your vet BEFORE using COPRO-NIL if your animal is on a restricted sodium (salt) diet or is receiving a vitamin or iron supplementation. Make sure the animals are not on steroids because this can  counter the effect of COPRO-NIL if in doubt please contact your vet. (1) Reed, D.H. and D.D. Harrington (1981). Experimentally Induced Thiamine Defi ciency in Beagle Dogs: Clinical Observations, Am. J. Vet Res, Vol. 42 No 6, pp 984-991. (2) Landsberg G, M et al Handbook of behavioural problems of the dog and cat p177 (3) Houpt KA, Wolski TR. Domestic Animal Behaviour for Veterinarians and Animal Scientists. Ames: Iowa State Univ   WHY DO DOGS AND CATS EAT FAECES??

1. Curiosity - young animals in particular are intensely curious and the faeces of a strange animal (or it may be the first time they encounter their own faeces) may provoke an animal to ‘try something new’. This is not a problem unless they develop a taste for it.

2. Boredom - animals that are bored or anxious will find various ways or relieving the stress. This may be by activities like continuous whining or barking, destructive behaviour or coprophagia. Medications may help but the underlying cause must be addressed.

3.Natural instinct - especially in dogs where their digestive systems have been disturbed they may eat other animals’ faeces in an attempt to re-populate their gut with healthy bacteria.

4. Protein - cats in particular but also other animals on a high protein diet may have significant amount of protein present in their faeces. If an animal has a particular requirement for protein (e.g., if growing rapidly or on an imbalanced diet) it may be attracted to those faeces.

5. Habit - this is the most challenging ‘cause’. An animal startsconsuming faeces for one of the reasons above but then continues, often through having the behaviour inadvertently reinforced by the owner or from continued exposure to stressful situations. The longer this behaviour continues the harder it is to break. This is more a psychological condition and may require specialist treatment

6. Vitamin deficiency - Vitamin B1 deficiency has been shown in the laboratory to cause coprophagia, but a number of vitamins (including Vit B complex and Vit K) are made by bacteria in the hindgut. Low levels of these vitamins in an animal’s system may trigger the animal’s instinct to seek sources of these vitamins.