Coprophagy in the Rabbit

Thacker, E. J.; Brandt, Christine

doi:10.1093/jn/55.3.375

Cited by 73 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Whereas hares and wild rabbits are unanimously reported to practice coprophagy during their phase of inactivity during the day (Southern, 1942;Watson, 1954;Watson & Taylor, 1955;Myers, 1955;Henning & Hird, 1972) the laboratory rabbit, according to Eden (1940), Olson & Madsen (1943), Thacker & Brandt (1955), Kandatsu, Yoshihara & Yoshida (1959), Piekarz (1963, Laffolay (1972) and others seems to reingest soft faeces during the night. Taylor (1940) and Bonnafous & Raynaud (1967), on the other hand, reported that coprophagy occurred during daytime, whereas Scheunert & Zimmermann (1952) observed coprophagy at several times during the 24 hours.…”

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Soft faeces excretion and passage time in the laboratory rabbit

Jilge

1974

Lab Anim

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Adult male rabbits, wearing a plastic collar to prevent coprophagy, excreted soft faeces during the first half of the light phase, starting at about the time the light switched on at 0600. While soft faeces were being excreted, food intake was reduced considerably in collared as well as in non-collared animals. Rate of passage of gastrointestinal contents in the rabbit was extremely high. Chromic oxide appeared in the faeces 4-5 h after it had been ingested in pelleted food. Coprophagy had no effect upon the rate of passage of gastrointestinal contents, and chromic oxide passed through at the same rate, whether it was incorporated in soft faeces or in pelleted diet.

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confidence: 99%

Soft faeces excretion and passage time in the laboratory rabbit

Jilge

1974

Lab Anim

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“…Thacker and Brandt (1955) found that coprophagy improved the utilisation of nitrogen, probably through the reingestion of bacterial protein synthesised in the caecum. After the first passage, caecotrophy enables the animal to re-utilise the extra dose of vitamins present in the feed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship of retinoid and carotenoid metabolism with caecotrophy in rabbits.

Kerti

Bárdos

Deli

et al. 2005

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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The relationship of retinoid and carotenoid metabolism with caecotrophy was studied in adult female New Zealand White rabbits kept in individual metabolic cages. Caecotrophy was prevented by the use of plastic collars. The dry matter, crude protein, fibre, fat and ash contents of hard and soft faecal samples were determined. The retinoid (retinol and retinyl palmitate) and carotenoid (canthaxanthin, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin) levels of the blood, liver, kidney, caecal content and faeces were also measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The prevention of caecotrophy resulted in a significant decrease of blood retinol (P < 0.001) and retinyl palmitate (P < 0.01) concentration but it did not cause any significant change in the retinol and retinyl palmitate contents of the liver and kidney. The caecal content (25.78 ± 6.87 µg/g) and the soft faeces (34.52 ± 10.48 µg/g) contained the retinoids in similar amounts. Various carotenoids were found in considerable amounts in different types of faeces, while in the tissues (blood, liver and kidney) these pigments did not occur in substantial amounts. Total carotenoid concentration was similar in the caecal content (11.23 µg/g) and in the caecotroph (13.85 µg/g). On the basis of the results it can be assumed that the retinoid content of rabbit feed could be lowered in the presence of adequate caecal function and caecotrophy.Key words: Retinoid, carotenoid, metabolism, caecotrophy, rabbit In the present day, retinoids (vitamin A) and provitamin A carotenoids are a major focus of research around the world owing to their cytoprotective, immunostimulating and antitumour effects. Retinoids are known to be involved in fetal development and in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of many cells and tissues throughout life. They are also essential for the maintenance of normal reproductive processes and immune response (Blomhoff et al., 1990).In the past decade the effects of high or low dietary vitamin A levels on growth and reproductive performance were investigated in rabbits. High

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“…Soft feces have been revealed to be produced through a mechanism separating small particles from the digesta at the proximal colon and excreted during certain times of the day [1,2] . Actually, coprophagy in the rabbit has been reported to be observed during certain periods of the day ; during the active daytime [101, the night [11] or 24 hours [12]. These discrepancies are now accepted as being attributable to different environmental conditions such as feeding schedule or light-dark cycle [61.…”

Section: Respectivelymentioning

confidence: 99%