How Do Rabbits Know??
I apologise in advance. If you are of delicate sensibilities, ignore this post.
I personally have been wondering how rabbits know which "items" of pre-digested food to eat again, and which are "finished". Otherwise, wouldn't they just get caught in a ingest-digest-excrete loop??!! (Brings new meaning to the phrase; "Eating the same crap day after day!!!!")
My beloved husband also advised me last night that rabbits eat, well, direct from the source, shall we say. I didn't believe him. However, after a little research, it becomes evident that he wasn't just trying to gross me out over a nice indian dinner.
Credit for this article to Nixon and Marshall Veterinary Surgeons.
"Rabbits are herbivorous and their digestive system has evolved to be extremely efficient. Rabbits rely on smell to locate their food. Digestion then begins in the mouth (oral cavity) where saliva is mixed with the food as it is chewed. The food travels down the oesophagus to the stomach where it is stored before being pushed into the small intestine by the ingestion of more food.
The small intestine is comprised of three sections - the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Here, bile, produced by the liver, breaks down fats into minute droplets, and enzymes (produced by the pancreas) continue to digest the food into particles small enough for absorption. At the ileocaecocolonic junction indigestible fibre is pushed into the colon where it forms hard faeces. The digestible matter, however, moves into the caecum where microflora (anaerobic bacteria) ferment the ingesta and some more absorption takes place. Other products of fermentation, such as vitamins and microbial proteins, are formed into soft pellets (caecotrophs) and these are moved backwards into the colon. Contractions of the colon propel the hard pellets and the soft pellets towards the anus. The rabbit eats caecotrophs directly from the anus and these pass through the digestive system again while the hard faeces are expelled."
I personally have been wondering how rabbits know which "items" of pre-digested food to eat again, and which are "finished". Otherwise, wouldn't they just get caught in a ingest-digest-excrete loop??!! (Brings new meaning to the phrase; "Eating the same crap day after day!!!!")
My beloved husband also advised me last night that rabbits eat, well, direct from the source, shall we say. I didn't believe him. However, after a little research, it becomes evident that he wasn't just trying to gross me out over a nice indian dinner.
Credit for this article to Nixon and Marshall Veterinary Surgeons.
"Rabbits are herbivorous and their digestive system has evolved to be extremely efficient. Rabbits rely on smell to locate their food. Digestion then begins in the mouth (oral cavity) where saliva is mixed with the food as it is chewed. The food travels down the oesophagus to the stomach where it is stored before being pushed into the small intestine by the ingestion of more food.
The small intestine is comprised of three sections - the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Here, bile, produced by the liver, breaks down fats into minute droplets, and enzymes (produced by the pancreas) continue to digest the food into particles small enough for absorption. At the ileocaecocolonic junction indigestible fibre is pushed into the colon where it forms hard faeces. The digestible matter, however, moves into the caecum where microflora (anaerobic bacteria) ferment the ingesta and some more absorption takes place. Other products of fermentation, such as vitamins and microbial proteins, are formed into soft pellets (caecotrophs) and these are moved backwards into the colon. Contractions of the colon propel the hard pellets and the soft pellets towards the anus. The rabbit eats caecotrophs directly from the anus and these pass through the digestive system again while the hard faeces are expelled."
posted by Catherine at 10:55
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