My chin Tink occasionally has strange poops and this just started a couple months ago. When she had them I would watch her for a couple days and then they would go back to normal so I just have been keeping an eye on her. She is eating and drinking good and still continues to gain weight. She doesn't have the strange poop all the time and it usually just a few and all the other poop looks normal. I just want to know if this is something I should be concerned about and if it warrants a vet visit.. There is no odor and it isn't soft and she is acting like her normal hyper self...lol I am just curious why she is having them occasionally. This is like the third or fourth time she has had the strange poop within a couple months... I have attached pics of her normal poop and the strange one...
Strange poop
- Thread starter Anna35
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ticklechin
Well-known member
Looks like a missed cecotrope to me!
jbcstratton
Well-known member
Is that the name for the "poop" that they eat?
Jenn
ZooKeeper
Definition from the interent...I had to look it up. "Cecotropes, also caecotrophes or night feces, are the product of the cecum, a part of the digestive system in mammals of the order lagomorpha, which includes two families: Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Cecotropes are passed through the intestines and subsequently reingested for added nutrients in a process known as "cecotrophy", "cecophagy", "pseudorumination", "refection", or coprophagia. Reingestion is also practiced by a few species of rodent (such as the capybara and guinea pig), marsupials (particularly their young) and one species of primate.[1]
[edit]Production
The process by which cecotropes are produced is called "hindgut fermentation". Food passes through the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, where nutrients are initially absorbed ineffectively, and then into the colon. Through reverse peristalsis, the food is forced back into the cecum where it is broken down into simple sugars (i.e. monosaccharides) by bacterial fermentation. The cecotrope then passes through the colon, the anus, and is eliminated by the animal and then reingested. The process occurs 4 to 8 hours after eating. This type of reingestion to obtain more nutrients is similar to the chewing of cud in cattle."
[edit]Production
The process by which cecotropes are produced is called "hindgut fermentation". Food passes through the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, where nutrients are initially absorbed ineffectively, and then into the colon. Through reverse peristalsis, the food is forced back into the cecum where it is broken down into simple sugars (i.e. monosaccharides) by bacterial fermentation. The cecotrope then passes through the colon, the anus, and is eliminated by the animal and then reingested. The process occurs 4 to 8 hours after eating. This type of reingestion to obtain more nutrients is similar to the chewing of cud in cattle."
ticklechin
Well-known member
If they are interupted during the exit and before the eating, I find a stray one once in awhile.
