Chapter 14 Small exotic mammals 167

Triangular scapula

Skull

Femur

Mandible

Suprahumate process
Pelvis
Humerus

Acetabulum

Fused radius and ulna

Fused fibula and tibia

Short fibula fused to tibia

Fig. 14.1 Skeleton of the rabbit showing main features.

Rabbit Cat and grow continuously throughout life. They must be kept worn
Scapula spine down by hard or fibrous food materials.
The dental formula is:
½I2=1,C0=0, PM3=2, M3=3  2 ¼ 28 total:

Malocclusion. If the teeth are misaligned or the diet does not

Suprahumate process
Fig. 14.2 The scapula of the rabbit compared to that of the cat.
include sufficient fibrous material, the teeth will not wear properly
and the rabbit will suffer from a range of problems associated
with difficulty in eating and in closing the mouth (Fig. 14.5).
Malocclusion is one of the most common reasons for rabbits
being presented to vets but it can be prevented by including
large quantities of good-quality hay in the diet. Treatment of the
overgrown incisors includes burring them off with a special type
of circular burr or clipping them by using strong nail clippers.
This latter is not recommended because the teeth may split
lengthways leaving them open to infection.

Oral cavity
The opening of the mouth is small and is designed for nibbling
grass, the tongue is relatively large and the oral cavity is long and
curved, making examination of the cheek teeth and intubation
for anaesthesia difficult. All the teeth (Fig. 14.4) are open-rooted
The incisors have enamel only on the outer surface, which
wears more slowly than the inner surface, creating the character-
istic chisel shape needed for nibbling plant material. In the upper
jaw the second pair of incisors are vestigial pegs and lie behind
the first pair. There are no canine teeth and the space between the

168 SECTION 2 Comparative anatomy and physiology Chapter 14 Small exotic mammals 169

Maxillary cheek teeth 1st maxillary incisor lymphoid tissue. Food passes on into the colon, which is also sac- are the main route for the excretion of calcium, and serum levels
culated but shorter, with a smaller-diameter lumen. depend on dietary intake – excessive intake may cause calcifica-
2nd incisor tion of the aorta and kidneys.
Oesophagus 2–3 molars 3 premolars (peg tooth)
Digestion
Rabbits are herbivorous, monogastric, hindgut fermenters. The Reproductive system
ingested plant material passes down the tract by peristaltic con-
Cardia
tractions and undergoes enzymic digestion in the stomach and Male
small intestine. The partially digested material enters the cae- The male rabbit is known as a buck. There are two testes, which in
Stomach cum, where it mixes with colonies of microorganisms responsi- the adult male lie in two almost hairless scrotal sacs cranial to the
Diast ble for the fermentation and breakdown of cellulose found penis (Fig. 14.6). The testes descend at about 12 weeks of age but
ema within plant cell walls. the inguinal canal remains open; there is no os penis. The buck
The now semi-liquid material passes into the colon. Con- has no nipples.
Pancreas tractions here pass fluid back into the caecum for re-use
in the fermentation process and also separate fibrous from
non-fibrous material, resulting in the production of two types Female
3 molars 2 premolars Mandibular incisor of faeces: The female rabbit is known as a doe. The reproductive tract of the
Duodenum • Hard fibrous pellets are produced within 4 h of eating. doe is bicornuate, meaning that it has two separate uterine horns
Jejunum and
Fibre passes rapidly through the digestive tract and is designed to hold litters of young (Fig. 14.7). There is no uterine
ileum
Mandibular cheek teeth essential for the stimulation of gut function but has no body and each horn has its own cervix opening into the vagina.
nutritive value. The mesometrium is a major fat storage organ. The doe has four
Fig. 14.4 Normal dentition of the rabbit. • Soft pellets or caecotrophs are produced within 3–8 h of or five pairs of nipples.
Appendix
eating, often at night. They are covered in mucus, greener, low
Caecum in fibre and high in protein, vitamins B and K and volatile
fatty acids. Caecotrophs are eaten directly from the anus – a Right kidney Left kidney
process known as caecotrophy or coprophagia. They are
swallowed without chewing. The mucoid covering protects
them from the stomach acid and facilitates absorption of
Sacculus the nutrients in the small intestine.
rotundus In this way, nutrients produced by microbial fermentation are
Colon (transition made available to the rabbit. Food material passes through the
of ileum
into caecum)
digestive system twice in 24 h.

Anal glands
Rectum
Fig. 14.3 Digestive system of the rabbit.
incisors and the cheek teeth is known as the diastema. The premo-
lars and molars – cheek teeth – are flattened table teeth for grind-
ing food. The jaw moves in a circular fashion to force the food
against their roughened surfaces. The lower teeth grow at a faster
rate than the upper teeth.
Stomach
This is a simple, thin-walled chamber that acts as a reservoir for
food and is never truly empty. There are well developed cardiac
and pyloric sphincters. Rabbits are unable to vomit because of the
arrangement of the cardia in relation to the stomach.
Small intestine
The duodenum and ileum are long and have a relatively small
lumen. The ileum terminates at the caecum, where there is a
Respiratory system
The rabbit is an obligate nose breather, meaning that it must
breathe through its nose. (Mouth breathing is often a poor prog-
Ureter
nostic sign.) The nose twitches 20–120 times per minute but
ceases under general anaesthesia. The glottis is small and diffi-
cult to see because the view is impaired by the relatively large
tongue. This can make intubation difficult and precautions must
be taken to avoid reflex laryngospasm. Bladder
The thymus gland remains a considerable size into adult life.
It lies ventral to the heart and runs cranially to the thoracic inlet.
The thoracic cavity is quite small and breathing mainly involves
the diaphragm. The lungs have three lobes on each side; the cra-
nial lobes are small. Seminal Ductus
vesicle deferens
Fig. 14.5 Incisor malocclusion in a rabbit. Urinary system
Epididymis
The kidneys are unipapillate, meaning that a single medullary Vesicular
pyramid drains into the renal pelvis and ureter. In the doe gland
rounded structure, the sacculus rotundus. Inside this the mucosa
is arranged in a network of lymph follicles and this area is often the ureters drain into the bladder, which is tough but thin-
walled, and the urethra empties into the ventral wall of the
known as the ileocaecal tonsil.
vagina; in the buck the ureters drain low down on the neck of Testis
the bladder.
Prostate gland
Large intestine Urethra
The caecum is the largest organ in the abdominal cavity and lies Urine Bulbourethral Glans penis
on the right side. It is blind-ending, thin-walled and sacculated In the normal healthy rabbit this can vary in colour from deep red gland
and coils around the other organs, folding in on itself three times. to yellow or white. It may also vary in turbidity from clear to
It terminates in a vermiform appendix, which contains abundant cloudy (this is due to the presence of calcium). The kidneys Fig. 14.6 Urogenital system of the male rabbit.
170 SECTION 2 Comparative anatomy and physiology

Right kidney
Wild rabbit does only feed their young once or twice a day, leaving
them safe in their underground nest. When they return the individual
Left kidney
kits feed only for few minutes and this period gets shorter as the kits
mature. This pattern is also seen in pet rabbits and owners may be
Single renal papilla concerned that the dam is neglecting her young. If the kits are
apparently thriving there is not a problem.

Sexual differentiation
This can be difficult in young rabbits and is easier after the testes
Ureter of the male descend into the scrotum (Fig. 14.8).
• Male: The penis can be easily extruded and has a pointed end.
Mesometrium Cervices Uterine horn Bucks over about 5 weeks have large relatively hairless scrotal
sacs containing the retractable testes. They lie lateral and
cranial to the penis.
• Female: The opening to the vulva is slit-like. Only the doe has
Ovary teats, usually eight pairs, which lie along the ventral thoracic
and abdominal body wall.

In the majority of placental mammals the scrotum lies caudal to the penis.
However, in marsupials and in the rabbit the scrotum lies cranial to
the penis.
Ovarian
fat body
Urethra
Caesarian section. When a caesarean section is performed on a
Vagina doe, a separate incision must be made in each uterine horn. The
Bladder
conceptuses cannot be pushed from one horn into another because
the presence of a cervix at the base of each horn blocks their passage.
Fig. 14.7 Urogenital system of the female rabbit.

The female rabbit is an induced ovulator and does not have a
well-defined oestrous cycle. There are periods of sexual receptiv-
ity every 4–6 days. Ovulation occurs within 10 h of coitus. The
age of sexual maturity varies with the breed: small breeds are
mature at about 5 months while larger ones mature as late as
8 months. The young are altricial: they are born hairless, deaf
and blind and are totally dependent on their mother for the first
few weeks of life. They are protected from the environment and
predators by a warm, fur-lined nest but if disturbed the dam may
eat them.
Small rodents
This group includes the small animals that are among the most
popular children’s pets: rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, guinea
pigs, chinchillas and chipmunks. They all belong to the order
Rodentia – derived from the Latin rodere, meaning to gnaw –
the common characteristic of which is that they have prominent,
yellow-coloured incisor teeth with an open pulp cavity. This
means that the teeth continue to grow throughout the animal’s
life and to maintain them at a normal length the animal must
gnaw on hard or fibrous food material.

Anus

Scrotal sac Urogenital orifice

Prepuce

(A) MALE (B) FEMALE

Fig. 14.8 Sexing a rabbit. (With permission from B O’Malley, 2005. Clinical anatomy and physiology of exotic species. Edinburgh:
Elsevier Saunders.)