3. Nutrition Flashcards
Major energy sources for rabbits
Sugars and volatile fatty acids
How is the rabbit GI tract distinct from other hindgut fermenters and ruminants?
Allows high food intake
Separates out digestible and easily fermentable components of the diet
Rapidly eliminates slowly fermentable fibrous waste.
Consumption of cecotrophs is inversely proportional to the digestibility of the diet: T or F?
T
At what age does cecotrophy begin?
3 weeks
What stimulates and maintains cecal-colonic motility?
Indigestible fiber
Which bacteria predominate cecal microflora?
Bacteroides
Decreased dietary fiber results in establishment of what bacteria in the cecum/
E.coli
What is milk oil?
Antimicrobial fatty acid produced in suckling rabbit’s stomach from an enzymatic reaction with a substrate in doe’s milk
How long does “milk oil” stick around for?
Up to 21 days of age
Greater sensitivity to microbial infections takes over at what age?
Weaning
What kind of diet helps reduce post-weaning mortality?
A diet low in starch and high in indigestible fiber
Main nutritional concerns of lab rabbits
Preventing obesity
Providing sufficient fiber for gut motility
Avoiding renal damage from calcium excretion
Excess calcium is excreted how?
Through urine, not bile
Clinical problems that can result from excess calcium
(soft tissue calcification, urolithiasis)
Gi hypomotility can be caused by these factors
Low fiber diet, stress, lack of exercise, hair
