What is..

@zugedanit (1958)
Philippines
February 16, 2007 1:16pm CST
Where and what is the CAECUM
1 response
• India
19 Feb 07
The first part of the large intestine. It is a blind-ending pouch at the junction between the small and large intestines. A blind sac branching from the junction of the small and large intestines, often containing microbial organisms that digest cellulose. A major organ of the digestive system that is a primary site of absorption. It joins the stomach "upstream" and the intestine "downstream." Digestive enzymes enter the caecum in the ducts from the digestive gland. Equivalent to the human appendix. This structure contains a diverse population of microbes that ferment material (mainly fibre) that the horse cannot digest with its own enzymes in the small intestine. These microbes break down forage at a neutral pH and produce nutrients in a form that the horse can absorb and use itself. cecum: the cavity in which the large intestine begins and into which the ileum opens; "the appendix is an offshoot of the cecum"