caecotrophy The passing of food through the alimentary canal twice. Rabbits and some other small mammals take soft faecal pellets directly from the anus at night and store them in the stomach to be mixed with food taken during the day, probably obtaining metabolites essential for digestion that are produced in the caecum. The animals will die if they are prevented from ingesting these pellets. Compare COPROPHAGY.

caecotrophy The passing of food through the alimentary canal twice. Rabbits and some rodents take soft faecal pellets directly from the anus at night and store them in the stomach to be mixed with food taken during the day, probably obtaining metabolites essential for digestion that are produced in the caecum. The animals will die if they are prevented from ingesting these pellets. Compare coprophagy.