Why is dog faeces white?

White dog faeces occur when normal digestion is disrupted or certain substances change the colour of the faeces.

You will notice the problem immediately: your dog passes faeces that look chalky white or greyish-white. This does not happen every day, which is why it catches your eye.

When does white faeces occur due to nutrition?

The classic case: your dog has eaten too many bones. Raw bones are a popular form of enrichment, but the high calcium concentration makes the faeces white and hard. This mainly affects dogs that regularly receive large marrow bones or get too much bone content when BARFing.

Bone meal in ready-made food can have the same effect. Some manufacturers use it as a source of calcium; in larger quantities, it changes the colour of the faeces. You are more likely to see this in cheaper foods or special “bone treats”.

The good news: white faeces caused by diet is usually harmless. It disappears on its own if you reduce the amount of bones.

Which diseases can cause white faeces?

Problems with the pancreas lead to incomplete digestion. The dog can no longer properly break down fat, which makes the faeces light to white and often greasy-looking. You will recognise it by the fact that the faeces also smell like rancid fat.

Liver diseases reduce bile production. Bile normally colours the faeces brown; if it is missing, the faeces become whitish or grey. Other symptoms usually occur here too: jaundice of the mucous membranes, loss of appetite, fatigue.

Tapeworms can leave whitish segments in the faeces. However, these are not completely white faecal pellets, but individual worm parts that look like grains of rice. You will find them more often around your dog’s anus or on its sleeping area.

Does old dog faeces turn white on its own?

No. This idea is persistent but wrong. Dog faeces becomes darker and harder when drying, not white. What you sometimes see are white moulds growing on old faeces, but that is something different.

If your dog’s faeces is already white when freshly passed, the cause lies within the dog itself. Not in weathering.

When do you need to visit the vet?

In the case of a single instance of white faeces after a “bone orgy”, you can wait and see first. If the faeces returns to normal after two days, it was probably due to diet.

You need a vet appointment if white faeces persists for several days, if your dog additionally appears tired, does not eat, or vomits. Even if you are sure that it had no bones, you should have the cause investigated.