Lack of Evidence for Physiological Causes in Food-Deprivation-Induced Polydipsia in the Gerbil

Abstract

Adulteration of water by quinine and saccharine disrupted food-deprivation-induced polydipsia in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), if no period was allowed for the animal to acclimate to the taste of the solution. If acclimation was allowed, mild polydipsia developed with saccharine adulteration but not with quinine. Since reverse solution changes had no effect on the appearance of food-deprivation polydipsia and both solutions were consumed when food was ad lib., it was hypothesized that motivation to consume water is decreased during food deprivation, despite the increased consumption. Also, the development of polydipsia was not beneficial to gerbils in terms of survival time following total food deprivation.