Veterinary Technician Practice Exam

Which of the following animals has a ruminant digestive system?

1. Dog

2. Pig

3. Goat

4. Horse

The correct answer is: Goat

The goat is the correct answer because it is classified as a ruminant, which means it possesses a specialized digestive system designed to efficiently break down fibrous plant materials. Ruminants have a unique stomach structure that consists of four compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. This complex system allows them to ferment food before digestion, enabling them to extract nutrients from tough plant sources. Goats, like other ruminants, help facilitate this process through a behavior known as "cud chewing," where they regurgitate partially digested food and chew it again to further break it down. This is essential for reducing particle size and stimulating digestion. In contrast, dogs have simple stomachs and are classified as carnivores, relying primarily on a diet of meat. Pigs are omnivores and possess a single-chambered stomach that is similar to that of humans, allowing them to digest both plant and animal material, but they do not have the specialized multitiered digestive system characteristic of ruminants. Horses also have a different digestive system that includes a large cecum for fermentation but are not classified as ruminants due to the absence of a multi-chambered stomach. Thus,