One of the most common "games" one can play with their pet dog is "what's in your mouth?"
Usually, this game leads to you extracting some sort of household object from your pet's mouth, like a paper towel roll or a pen or what's left of the remote.
However, one woman got a nasty surprise when she tried to check on what was in her dog's mouth, after discovering him acting very suspicious outside with a loud buzzing sound coming from his maw.
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"Why is your mouth making that noise?" she says sternly to the pup, who gives her a politely quizzical look.
Eventually, he drops the mystery object—which turned out to be a cicada.
Gross.
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It's common for dogs to want to gobble up cicadas, according to the American Kennel Club. Cicadas are not harmful to dogs in small numbers.
However, if eaten in excess, a dog's stomach will have trouble digesting the extra-crunchy exoskeleton of the cicada and eventually lead to digestive consequences for the pup.
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Dogs love to eat cicadas because they reportedly resemble "big, flying treats" according to Christine Klippen, an emergency veterinarian at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington.
"Because cicadas are so easy to catch, some animals are going to town eating them," she said, as occasionally cats will also come in for a visit to the hospital after munching down on the loud 17-year-pests.
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Cicadas can't sting and are not poisonous to ingest, making them a relatively un-scary—albeit gross and very loud—snack food for your pet.
Vets recommend a basket muzzle for any pet that can't control their cicada habit, though, as too many cicadas can cause serious GI distress for your pet.
