Nutrient Digestibility in Zoo-Kept Tapirs (Tapirus spp) as Compared to Other Herbivores.

Tapirs are hindgut fermenters with a natural diet dominated by browse, with a certain proportion of wild fruit. By contrast, diets fed to tapirs in zoos are often dominated by domestic fruit and other sources of easily digestible carbohydrates, which have been linked to obesity and various health problems. We aimed at better understanding the digestive physiology of tapirs, measuring the digestive efficiency of 13 lowland (Tapirus terrestris) and five Malayan (Tapirus indicus) tapirs from five zoos on various zoo diets by recording intake and total faecal excretion.

Feed-induced hypersalivation in horses from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Background: While previous reports come mostly from the southern Americas, several outbreaks of hypersalivation in horses were observed in Middle Europe from 2016 to 2018.

Objective: To describe feed-induced hypersalivation in European horses.

Study Design: Analysis of feedstuffs.

A Meta-Analysis on Quantitative Calcium, Phosphorus and Magnesium Metabolism in Horses and Ponies.

The aims of the present meta-analysis were (i) to re-evaluate the factorially calculated Ca, P and Mg requirements to replace endogenous faecal losses, taking new data into account, (ii) to identify potential differences between horses and ponies regarding requirements, apparent digestibility, serum levels and renal excretion of Ca, P and Mg and (iii) to investigate the influence of mineral sources, i.e., "inorganic" sources from added mineral salts and "organic" sources from feed plants.

Apparent digestibility and calcium and phosphorus in urine after feeding different combinations of calcium and phosphorus sources to adult dogs.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the combination of a water-soluble calcium (Ca) source (CaCl) with a water-soluble phosphorus (P) source (NaHPO*2HO, diet soluble, SOL) in comparison to a water-insoluble P source (CaHPO4*2HO, diet insoluble, INS) on apparent digestibility and renal excretion of Ca and P in dogs. The Ca intake was 226 mg/kg bodyweight (bw), the Ca/P ratio 1.9/1 in SOL and 2.

Comparative analysis of pancreatic amylase activity in laboratory rodents.

Alpha-amylase is the main enzyme for starch digestion in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. There are species differences in the enzymatic activity of pancreatic amylase that are related to the digestive strategy and natural diet of a species. This aspect is well investigated in pet and farm animals, while in common laboratory animal rodents, information is scarce.