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Can Rabbits Burp ?

they shouldn't be able to no as they can't vomit although I did see someone somewhere on here saying that they could vomit. did you head a growl or possibly something from the other end?
 
I am not thinking I heard one of mine burping. I have just been having one of my 'ponderings on all things Bunny' and for some reason the question came into my head. Is the same mechanical process involved in burping as it is in vomiting ? :?





...................More tea and cake anyone...................:lol:
 
I'm pretty sure it is.

But I'm not sure why rabbits can't vomit. I once read that rats can't vomit because rodents don;t have a vomit mechanism in their brain. Is this the same for rabbits, because I thought they couldn't vomit because of the way their digestive system is designed :?
 
Just to add, wouldn't it be terrible for us people who have loads of house bunnies if they could vomit like cats. Think of all the furballs all over the house :mrgreen:
 
I think rabbits cant vomit due to their highly developed cardiac sphincter.

But if the same mechanical process is involved in burping and vomiting why dont we vomit every time we burp :?

Hugo's There said:
Just to add, wouldn't it be terrible for us people who have loads of house bunnies if they could vomit like cats. Think of all the furballs all over the house :mrgreen:
Click to expand...



Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww !! :mrgreen:
 
Jack's-Jane said:
I think rabbits cant vomit due to their highly developed cardiac sphincter.

But if the same mechanical process is involved in burping and vomiting why dont we vomit every time we burp :?





Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww !! :mrgreen:
Click to expand...


I do!!:oops::lol:
 
We can vomit mildly when we burp....gastroesophageal reflux - if GI tract is inflammed or severely if there is an underlying condition or drug, viral, bacterial induced that stimluates the vomiting centre, but you need quite a strong contraction and neuro innervation from the vomiting centre in the brain which opens the cardiac sphincter to produce emesis....the rest of the time we just repeat a bit of gas as a mild reflex and there is no huge contraction from the chest muscles as there is when vomiting.
Rabbits can't vomit due to the highly developed cardiac sphincter as you say, it is unlikely that even gas can be passed through this.....and therefore I expect this contributes to gas build up in bloat? I don't know this for sure :?
I don't think that rabbits can burp....sadly if they could it might help them when so ill with a distended stomach :( I wonder if perhaps they also lack a vomiting centre in the medulla of the brain???
 
Yes I agree that if they could burp, bloat would be easier to overcome - and may not happen in the first place..... but they definitely can pass wind through the other end!!!lol::lol::lol:
 
prettylupin said:
Rabbits can't vomit due to the highly developed cardiac sphincter as you say, it is unlikely that even gas can be passed through this.....and therefore I expect this contributes to gas build up in bloat? I don't know this for sure :?
I don't think that rabbits can burp....sadly if they could it might help them when so ill with a distended stomach :( I wonder if perhaps they also lack a vomiting centre in the medulla of the brain???
Click to expand...

The cardiac sphincter thing is correct, but as i think Jane says, is it is mainly due to the gut design thing. Because they are "hindgut fermenters" - i.e. the breakdown of cellulose etc is in the caecum and large intestine, all the gas from fermentation is produced in the lower gut so gas generally passes out the back end (as some have experienced) but can build up, for various reasons, causing bloat. The stomach is simply too far away for gas to travel that far and be eliminated via eructation (burping to you and me!). With vomiting, because of their diet, being herbivorous, and their gut design, the stomach is very small and although never normally empty, holds very little contents at any one time, so vomiting isnt a useful process in rabbits (and horses, who have a very similar digestive system) so the reflexes (as someone mentioned about vomiting centres in the brain) are absent or poorly developed.

Yes please Jane, i'll have a scone! :lol:
 
VikkiVet said:
The cardiac sphincter thing is correct, but as i think Jane says, is it is mainly due to the gut design thing. Because they are "hindgut fermenters" - i.e. the breakdown of cellulose etc is in the caecum and large intestine, all the gas from fermentation is produced in the lower gut so gas generally passes out the back end (as some have experienced) but can build up, for various reasons, causing bloat. The stomach is simply too far away for gas to travel that far and be eliminated via eructation (burping to you and me!). With vomiting, because of their diet, being herbivorous, and their gut design, the stomach is very small and although never normally empty, holds very little contents at any one time, so vomiting isnt a useful process in rabbits (and horses, who have a very similar digestive system) so the reflexes (as someone mentioned about vomiting centres in the brain) are absent or poorly developed.

Yes please Jane, i'll have a scone! :lol:
Click to expand...

Thanks for that explanation Vicki :D

........and will have have cream and jam with this scone ? :wave:
 
VikkiVet said:
The cardiac sphincter thing is correct, but as i think Jane says, is it is mainly due to the gut design thing. Because they are "hindgut fermenters" - i.e. the breakdown of cellulose etc is in the caecum and large intestine, all the gas from fermentation is produced in the lower gut so gas generally passes out the back end (as some have experienced) but can build up, for various reasons, causing bloat. The stomach is simply too far away for gas to travel that far and be eliminated via eructation (burping to you and me!). With vomiting, because of their diet, being herbivorous, and their gut design, the stomach is very small and although never normally empty, holds very little contents at any one time, so vomiting isnt a useful process in rabbits (and horses, who have a very similar digestive system) so the reflexes (as someone mentioned about vomiting centres in the brain) are absent or poorly developed.
Click to expand...

Yes I know that gas is produced by hind gut fermentation in the caecum :) I was referring to inability to pass gass from the stomach during bloat episodes only which is, I think, a shame, but I expect that wild rabbits do not get bloat, hence why evolutionary speaking vomiting is not important or necessary to eliminate toxins from the body, and also that few toxins are ingested purely as we do as rabbits are selective feeders, on top of this their gastric acidity is far higher and more likely to neutralise anything untoward ingested :)

The vomiting centre is sited in the medulla and it is likely I agree that this autonomic reflex does not exist or is poorly developed in rabbits :)
 
Ferrets really struggle to be sick and dont bring up anything..its horrid to see........they have very short digestive systems and need a certain diet to munch when they want to.
Is this similar to bunnies??

Talking of sphincters,My Pyloric sphincter didnt work when I was a baby...Pyloricstenosis,where I chucked up all the time!!:roll:
 
prettylupin said:
Yes I know that gas is produced by hind gut fermentation in the caecum :) I was referring to inability to pass gass from the stomach during bloat episodes only which is, I think, a shame, but I expect that wild rabbits do not get bloat, hence why evolutionary speaking vomiting is not important or necessary to eliminate toxins from the body, and also that few toxins are ingested purely as we do as rabbits are selective feeders, on top of this their gastric acidity is far higher and more likely to neutralise anything untoward ingested :)

The vomiting centre is sited in the medulla and it is likely I agree that this autonomic reflex does not exist or is poorly developed in rabbits :)
Click to expand...

This is something i am not clear on - during episodes of bloat, where does the gas collect? i would have thought it would be the caecum and lower intestines etc? But perhaps i am wrong and it is in the stomach - someone please enlighten me!
 
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