Rabbit GIT

Question 1

what type of stomach does a rabbit have?

Answer 1

simple

Question 2

Where does most fermentation happen?

Answer 2

caecum

Question 3

is the abdominal cavity large or small?

Answer 3

large

Question 4

is its GIT long or short?

Answer 4

long

Question 5

how are rabbits unable to vomit?

Answer 5

well developed cardiac sphincter

Question 6

describe the small intestine of a rabbit

Answer 6

• pylorus easily compressed by the duodenum
• duodenum easily compressed by the liver
• at end of the small intestine there is a sacculus rotundus ( ileocecocolic junction)
• Honeycomb external appearance (because of large number of lymph follicles (ileocecal tonsil)
• ileocolic valve (from ileum to colon) opens into ampulla coli (enlarged part of colon) at the junction of ileum, colon and caecum. It controls movement of ingesta from the ileum into the sacculus

Question 7

what part of the small intestine is a common site for foreign body impaction?

Answer 7

terminal part of ileum

Question 8

what is the sacculus rotundus?

Answer 8

spherical thick-walled englargement at the junction between ileum, caecum and colon

Question 9

describe the large intestine of a rabbit

Answer 9

• highly developed
• caecum lies on the right-hand side of the abdominal cavity and is coiled
• it is coiled 3 times into gyral folds
• ends of caecum has vermiform appendix with lymphoid tissue
• Vermiform appendix and SR have B lymphocytes

Question 10

describe the rabbit colon

Answer 10

• Teniae and sacculations characterise colon
• divides into proximal (ascending
  colon) and distal colon
• ascending colon has 3 sections:
• starts at ampulla coli, has small protrusions called warzen
• 3nd section has segments and pastoral contractions that separate ingest into digestible particles
• 3rd section is fuses coli, thickened muscular section that is highly innervated and vascularised: its mucosal surface has goblet cells
• acts as a pacemaker- regulating passage of ingest into distal colon
• distal colon is think walled and contains hard faecal pellets
• cecotrophy

Question 11

wha is cecotrophy?

Answer 11

soft faecal pellet produced by rabbits that they eat to gain extra nutrients