Coprophagy in rabbits must be taken into consideration in which circumstance?

• A. When rabbits will be anesthetized for a long period of time.
• B. When rabbits will be fasted prior to gastric surgery.
• C. When rabbits will be intubated endotracheally during anesthesia.
• D. When rabbits will receive narcotic analgesics during surgical recovery.

Answer: (B)

Coprophagy is essential for rabbits because they re-ingest special soft feces (cecotropes) that are rich in B vitamins, vitamin K, amino acids, and beneficial gut bacteria. This process helps maintain their nutritional status and a healthy gut microbiome. If a rabbit is fasted before gastric surgery, it cannot access those cecotropes, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies and GI dysfunction, increasing the risk of postoperative ileus or delayed recovery. Therefore, preoperative fasting for gastric surgery must account for this behavior by keeping fasting short and supporting GI health with appropriate feeding plans as allowed. Other anesthesia-related steps are important too, but the specific need to preserve coprophagy is tied to fasting before gastric procedures.