# Why does soap turn my dog's poop green? What made him throw-up before? (A mystery) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970 "2016-10-18T18:48:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/1 "2016-10-18T18:48:52Z")
See query. I was told it was causative, not merely correlative, when someone heard only the part about him eating the soap. But please note the narrative: 1. 6-month old puppy Yofi eats dose of my Atorvastatin (anti-cholesterol medication); I post to SD (cite omitted) and call poison control hotline, who says probably nothing, just possible gastric irritation, watch for puke/diarrhea. Rest of the day (8 hrs) he is fine 2. Humorous comments are generated re all the bacon and greasy foods Yofi can now splurge on 3. Late that afternoon Yofi knocks over full open bottle of canola oil, licks half of it up from floor 4. Jokes not thought of need for grease cutting agent 5. Yofi eats half a Brillo pad. He throws up mightily a half hour later–which, sad to say, I was pleased about, relatively speaking, because from experience I was waiting for uncontrollable diarrhea every which way. Questions: 1. Absent the Brillo pad, he would’ve had diarrhea just from the oil? 2. If the Brillo pad was the emetic, was it the soap or the yummy steel wool? 3. Was the soap causative of subsequent (hours later) green poop? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/2 "2016-10-19T00:28:41Z")
1- When our 7lb dog ate a stick of butter, the diarrhea was impressive. 2- I would bet on soap. 3- Are Brillo pads still blue? If so, that dye very likely affected feces color. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/3 "2016-10-19T00:45:46Z")
Brillo used to be _pink_. A check at [Brillo.com](http://Brillo.com) tells me the soap is beef-tallow based. And, they claim, is gluten-free, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/4 "2016-10-19T01:01:47Z")
The overdose of canola oil would have caused little Yofi’s gallbladder to squeeze out all its bile and digestive gunk. The bile is what made the poop green. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/5 "2016-10-19T03:14:09Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Brillo used to be _pink_. A check at [Brillo.com](http://Brillo.com) tells me the soap is beef-tallow based. > > And, they claim, is gluten-free, so there’s that. Yep, it was SOS pads that I remembered as blue. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/6 "2016-10-19T03:50:54Z")
Your puppy eats your medication, then is able to knock over and slurp up canola oil, then has access to and eats (OMG only half) a Brillo pad. The GQ should be “why am I able to own a pet”. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/7 "2016-10-19T05:38:38Z")
It was one of those days. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-soap-turn-my-dogs-poop-green-what-made-him-throw-up-before-a-mystery/768970/8 "2016-10-19T13:43:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It was one of those days. Not too be too snarky, but “one of those days when medications, cooking ingredients, and cleaning supplies spontaneously teleport themselves in reach of a puppy?” 😕 ETA: puppy-proofing is like toddler-proofing. None of that sounds particularly toddler-proofed to me, even assuming the best intentions. ETAA: I like **Iggy** ’s suggestion of a bile dump. That’s what bile is for, and what bile looks like.