[Quantumcat (OP)]

Does anyone know why old dog poo goes white and crumbly?

[Exodus]

I'm sure its to do with their calcium intake. If i remember rightly some foods you feed dogs are more likely to give them white poos. It does seem however that the poos only turn white once they have been exposed for a few days. I'll tell you one thing, they are seriously hard, you should hear the noise when my mum drives over them with the lawnmower!

For comedy value, check out this GEEKS website!
www.geocities.com/poostix_uk/whitepoo.html

Resident Tour Operator - The Naked Scientists

[cuso4]

Well, poo has that brown colour it's because it contains bile (that's what my biology teacher said anyway). Dog poo turns white may be because the bile decomposed?

Angel

[NakedScientist]

The disappearence of white dog poo is down to what dogs eat these days.

White **** is the calcium left behind as the water evaporates, and the 'organic' components of the crap are consumed (in various ways) leaving the inorganic stuff behind.

Historically, before BSE came along, butchers used to dish out bones for dogs to munch on.

But nowadays dogs don't eat as much bone as they used to, including bone meal. This all got the lid shoved on it due to the BSE crisis. Also, tighter regulation on dogs crapping on pavements means that turds don't hang around for years in public places like they used to, giving them less opportunity to dry out and turn white.

TNS

[Quantumcat (OP)]

Well, I give my dogs a bone each once a week; sometimes when shovelling up dog poo from the lawn[xx(] there will be a few white ones scattered around in hard-to-reach places (been there for a long time)

[Donnah]

Speaking of "Oh s@!*" I heard on the news today that we have one confirmed case of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) in Alberta (that's the province that Calgary is in).

[NakedScientist]

Donnah - I'm not surprised to hear that Canada has disclosed a case of BSE. Precisely the same meat recycling techniques that led to the elaboration of the novel TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) referred to as 'BSE' in the UK were used the whole world over. With the wisdom of hindsight it was an unexploded bomb waiting to go off and the UK drew the short straw. It could just as easily have been the US, Canada, Japan or any of the other European countries.

In fact, recycling animal tissue into the same animal had already led to the elaboration of another prion disease, called Kuru ("which means he who trembles a lot" in testimony to the abnormal movements made by sufferers), amongst the Fore People in Papua New Guinea. In this instance the source of the disease was ritualistic cannibalism involving, in particular, consumption of brain tissue. The good news is that with cessation of the cannabalistic practices, the disease has disappeared.

TNS

[Donnah]

It makes sense that feeding any sort of meat or animal by-products to herbivores is inviting disaster, but I don't understand why omnivores (like people) would suffer from eating tissue of their own kind, while being able to eat the tissue of other species.  Do carnivores suffer when they cannibalize?

[Exodus]

humans bite their nails.... although i would hate to think that someone went around eating other peoples... imagine someone munching on your big toe!!

I however have lovely feet so i'm sure my toe nails would be preyed on for munching!

Resident Tour Operator - The Naked Scientists

[Donnah]

Thank you for sharing, Twinkletoes.

[NakedScientist]

It's not so much whether an animal is an omnivore, carnivore or herbivore but the source of the material that is being fed to that animal.

The most likely origin for BSE and Human Kuru was a single individual spontaneously developing a prion disease which was then spread to others via the dietary route. This is most likely to occur when you feed animals products derived from another member of the same species because the rate of transmission is likely to be more efficient if it doesn't have to 'jump the species barrier'. Scrapie, for example, can be readily transmitted amongst sheep but has never posed a threat to humans. We know this because the prevalence of sporadic CJD in the UK, and other countries with scrapie, is identical to the CJD rate in scrapie-free nations.

In the context of BSE the recycling of infected material back into the very animal type from which it initially came led to massive amplification of the infectious agent - prion protein - which, it turned out much to John Gummer's chagrin, also had the capacity to infect humans and just about any other animal.

Many people have suggested that feeding scrapie sheep to cows was the source of BSE but this is almost certainly not correct. Careful analysis of BSE prion reveals a different disease process which produces a brain lesion-profile very different from scrapie.

TNS

[chris]

Saw this and thought of Donnah....

"Canadian Mad Cow Case Could Benefit U.S. Beef "

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The announcement of a case of mad cow disease in Canada could have a huge impact on the U.S. beef market, said Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt. And whether that impact will be positive or negative may well rest mainly with consumers, he said.

"If beef consumption goes down as a result of consumer fears, that could affect cattle prices, and cattle represent 20 percent of all farm receipts," Hurt said. "Beef cattle are by far the largest single agricultural commodity in the U.S."

On the other hand, this could be a boon for U.S. beef.

"The consumers are going to have the biggest impact," Hurt said. "If they maintain faith in U.S. beef, this could turn out to be a good thing for our cattle producers."

Canada is the United States' largest live cattle supplier and its second largest processed beef supplier. "The United States has banned imports of Canadian live cattle and beef, and other countries are likely to follow," Hurt said.

"Nine percent of the U.S. beef supply comes from Canada. Four percent of that arrives as processed products and 5 percent as live cattle. The ban represents a 9 percent reduction in beef supply. If consumers maintain their consumption, that could sharply increase live cattle prices by as much as 10 to 12 percent."

This also could benefit U.S. beef producers if Canadian exports to the rest of the world are shut off. Hurt said that beef from the United States could experience a boost in value as foreign consumers shift to U.S.-origin beef.

Other meat products also could rise in value.

Hurt said pork and poultry will likely be at the top of consumers' minds when they're purchasing meat. In addition, soybean meal could see a bump in prices as feed suppliers search for alternative protein sources for animal feeds.

Mad cow disease, technically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), attacks the nervous system of cattle fed protein that came from other ruminants, which are animals that chew their cud and have a multichambered stomach.

Leon Thacker, Purdue veterinary pathologist and head of the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL), said the Food and Drug Administration banned feeding ruminant-derived protein to cattle and sheep in 1997.

"The 1997 ban prevents any feed products of ruminant origin from being fed back to other ruminant animals that will be used for slaughter," Thacker said. "Historically, BSE has been transmitted by feed contaminated with protein from infected animals."

There are already control measures in place in the United States. Thacker said cattle that die with symptoms of the disease are examined at diagnostic labs throughout the nation. In Indiana, they are checked at the ADDL.

"We are constantly looking for the occurrence of this disease," Thacker said. "We target and examine animals that are down or have died with symptoms that resemble BSE."

In general, the experts aren't concerned about the spread of mad cow disease to humans. They're more concerned about the impact the case will have on consumer confidence.

"The risk to individuals from beef consumption, even in Canada, is very low based on what we know from the British experience," said Simon Kenyon, Purdue Extension veterinarian.



I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception - Groucho Marx

[Donnah]

This BSE case is being handled extremely well.  The disease was identified BEFORE the cow got into the food chain.  The farm the cow came from is quarantined and the herd is being slaughtered and tested.  They are tracing the food she ate throughout her lifetime, and locating her offspring.  You can read more at: http://google.agric.gov.ab.ca/search?q=BSE&btnG=Search&restrict=Alberta_Agriculture&ie=&site=RTW_Search&output=xml_no_dtd&client=RTW_Search&lr=&proxystylesheet=RTW_Search&oe=

Just a short little URL.

I have total confidence that the system is working, thanks largely to work done in the UK, and will happily continue to eat beef.

[roberth]

I understand that most poos generated by mammals consist of a chemical produced by the body called (excuse my spelling) billyruben. This chemical is the result of broken down red blood cells. These blood cells have an effective life of about 180 days and when they are used up (known as free radicals), they must be expelled from the body. The body has to get rid of a lot of these and we poo them away. When this chemical is exposed to light, it breaks down and loses its colour (and turns white). The amount of bones eaten by your dog will not change the nature of this chemical, but it could result in the excess calcium changing the colour of the poo when it is passed. The chemical will still break down and turn the rest of the poo white.

[Quantumcat (OP)]

Wow, good explanation! Congrats![]

[Donnah]

In spite of exhaustive efforts, no other source of mad cow disease than the one cow has been found.  It is possible that it was spontaneous and many people feel that Japan and the U.S. should open their borders to Canadian beef again.  What does everyone here think?

I'm still enjoying Canadian beef, but not seeing any drop in price since the BSE was identified.  The farmers are getting less for the animals, so I guess the slaughterhouses are making a killing in more ways than one.

[Exodus]

I bet the Americans have had cases of BSE too, and places like france, they just don't tell people in fear of damaging the farming economy. I still eat british beef, and to be honest, its probably safer than its ever been nowadays. Its likely that if we are going to get CJD, then we already have it... so i'm off to Burger King for a Double Whopper with cheese! []

AMERICA - OPEN YOUR BORDERS TO CANADA!

Resident Tour Operator - The Naked Scientists

[Ians Daddy]

I agree, that there are probably several cases of this, but just kept quiet. I figure that British beef and Canadian beef are probably the safest of all, coming off of a scare. I'm sure Firestone will forever make a better tire and Jack in the Box will always cook the meat well having had smears of their own.

If I were president, alot would change. Including the opening of many borders.

[bezoar]

I remember when I worked in home health, we did have one patient with CJD.  It was funny, because we had to look it up.  We had no idea what it was, then about a year later, BSE was in the news.  Oh, and the kuru in Papua, New Guinea, it was only the females that got it, because the cannibalistic rite was limited to the females.  And I want you guys to know that yesterday, I checked the levee behind my condo where all the owners walke their dogs.  Unfortunately, here in New Orleans, the rain has been relentless and the grass was high so there wasn't much I could see, but I only found on heap of brown poo.  Still looking for the white stuff, which wasn't half bad as poop goes.  It didn't stick to your shoes and it didn't even smell bad by then either.  I'll keep checking and keep you posted.

Bezoar

[george]

So let me get this right..."it didn;t stick to my shoe"...you tested the crap with your shoe ? Why ? We're only talking about colour here. I've heard the line "fling enough **** and some will stick" but you're getting a bit carried away !!!

Little joke for you :

Knock Knock.
Who's there ?
Sonia..
Sonia who ?
Sonia shoe, can't you smell it ?