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The Rabbits Digestive System The rabbits digestive system is very different to our own and most other types of pets. They are herbivores (eat only vegetables/plants) which in the wild spend a great deal of time eating often poor quality food. They are designed to cope with a diet consisting of large quantities of forage (grass, hay etc.) supplemented with small amounts of vegetables. They have specific adaptations for this diet which include: 1. Caecotrophy / Coprophagy During certain times of the day - usually 4-6 hours after eating you may see your rabbit licking around his or her anal area and eating the softer greener and strong smelling droppings that come straight from the caecum (fermentation vat between small and large intestines). In the caecum the digestible portion of the diet is broken down by bacteria which then produce fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Some of these nutrients produced are absorbed through the wall of the caecum, but MOST are kept inside the bacteria which are excreted in the night droppings) Rabbits know when these droppings are being produced and will eat them AS LONG AS THEY ARE ABLE TO. The rabbit therefore does an excellent job producing its own nutritional supplements within its own body. Grass and hay are very difficult to digest as the nutrients they contain are locked up inside the cells of the plants. Rabbits overcome this by storing food in their large caecums (this is in the hind part of their intestines), here bacteria ferment the grass and hay liberating the nutrients. Having a fermentation vat in your abdomen has its draw backs, sudden changes in diet upset the bacteria in the caecum causing problems ranging from mild diarrhoea to fatal infections. This is commonly seen when we let our rabbits graze for the first time after the Winter, the rapid change from hay to grass can upset their hind gut. For this reason any changes in your rabbits diet should be made gradually. This may mean building up the amount of time grazing by 5-10 minutes each day. The fermentation process is much more stable if hay is a major part of the diet, this is one of the reasons that hay is such an important part of you rabbits diet. Because rabbits need to grind their diet before digestion their teeth grow continuously. Without this adaptation there teeth would soon grind down to nothing. This is very important to understand with pet rabbits as the incorrect diet can lead to overgrowth of the teeth with very dangerous consequences.
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