Coprophagy in iron-deficient rats.

An attempt was made to prevent coprophagy in iron-deficient rats using plastic anal cups. Considerable damage to the anal cups occurred as a result of gnawing over periods up to 4 days. Haemoglobin iron determinations in rats with and without cups suggested that the cups had been partially successful in preventing recycling of dietary iron, and that coprophagy may be a significant factor in interpretation of haemoglobin regeneration studies on rodents.