dog chewing electrical cord

fifilarue

Hello All-as the title says, my Westie has suddenly started doing something totally out of character for him and is chewing electrical cable/cord. I'm watching him like a hawk but am terrified he'll get to one before I do and be electrocuted. Besides which, it's a total pain in the ass. He has been ill for the last couple of weeks and I was just wondering if this kind of behaviour is symptomatic of an unwell dog?
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DBB

I wouldn't say that chewing wires is a sign there's something wrong per se, however any sudden change of normal behaviour is most certainly an indicator of a possible medical problem.
However, who's to say that there isn't something attracting him to the electrical cables? Something to do with electromagnetics? But it's more likely to be something straightforward.
For instance, it could be something as simple as him having quickly learned that chewing cables gets a big and instant reaction from his humans Or it could be that his body is making him crave weird stuff if he's unwell... I've posted here before that my coeliac friend, before she was diagnosed, used to eat the plastic outer sleeve of Bic biros :eek: And nettles :eek::eek: And cinders out of last night's fire :eek::eek::eek: Similarly, animals are known to eat odd stuff if their digestion is out of kilter.
What's wrong with the little fella?

fifilarue

Hi DBB
Thanks a million for replying. He ate some slug pellets over the Easter weekend and it is thanks to the vet that he survived. He is still fairly poorly, though eating and drinking and walking a little, but can't go far (He's about 6 years old and normally very active). We are all very upset. I posted last night as the cable thing is so out of character and he appears so agitated. When he does it, rather than a big fuss, I say 'No' and move him away from it. He's also eating turf and licking his feet obsessively. We are not due back to the vet till Thursday but I think I'll go in this evening with him. Thanks again for posting a reply. Very upset seeing this little fella so ill as he is a rescue and was pretty traumatised when we got him but had come on literally in leaps and bounds.

DBB

God, that's terrible, the poor fella :-(
But the fact that he's eating other non-food stuff suggests a deeper problem alright. I know slug pellets can cause neurological problems, which may explain at least some of his new behaviours, but I wonder has the incident left his tummy and guts feeling crap, or even affected his ability to absorb the nutrients he needs, hence eating soil and wiring?
Do his paws look sore? Did you change his food?
I hope he's alright, what a horrible thing to happen :-(

fifilarue

Thanks DBB. It was an unfortunate accident. I don't use slug pellets myself-we were visiting some friends on Easter Monday and he ate them there.

His diet is I hope, fairly good- chicken, mince, brown rice, carrots (he loves them), peas (ditto) mixed with a handful of the dried food (Latham's Sensitive). No tinned stuff, nothing fancy and his diet hasn't really varied too much. When he was sick and wasn't eating anything, in desperation one evening I gave him a malted milk biscuit and he managed to hold that down and in the following days (and more malted milks) his appetite slowly came back. He's a lot better than he was but has good days and bad days-bad days characterised by high temperature and agitation. To be honest, I'm afraid for him. I can't really say how much he means to us all as he came from such a bad place mentally to a gas character with a permanently waggy tail.

I checked his paws and nails and they seem fine to me-no sign of any soreness and he doesn't mind me looking at them. Is it too early for grass mites?