Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty11
Are you saying they eat charcoal to soothe sick tummy?
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It's quite possible
. Same reason why dogs/cats eat grass - it soothes their tummy/digestive tract, makes them vomit hairballs etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka
Yeah, they give it to people too for alcohol poisoning, and things. The charcoal Roxy eats is not BBQ charcoal, it is the leftover charred bits from the firewood. She has been obsessive about eating anytime she can find it. If we had a fire one night she would be in there all day th next day eating all the charcoal that was left.
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That basically
is activated charcoal then, the firewood being burned brings it to a high enough temperature to oxidize it:
Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon
Activated carbon (aka activated charcoal) is carbon produced from carbonaceous source materials like nutshells, peat, wood, coir, lignite, coal and petroleum pitch. It can be produced by one of the following processes:
Carbonization: Material with carbon content is pyrolyzed at temperatures in the range 600–900 °C, in absence of oxygen (usually in inert atmosphere with gases like argon or nitrogen)
Activation/Oxidation: Raw material or carbonized material is exposed to oxidizing atmospheres (carbon dioxide, oxygen, or steam) at temperatures above 250 °C, usually in the temperature range of 600–1200 °C.
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Of course some dogs just like to chew wood/sticks
so maybe they both just like the taste
