Dietary Cation Anion Balance Horses

Meq na k cl kg diet dry matter.

Dietary cation anion balance horses. Dietary cation anion balances were 354 125. During the last 72 hours three horses with rer and three control horses had daily urine and fecal samples obtained by total 24 hour collection. When excess negatively charged minerals or anions are present acidity increases and performance suffers. The dcad of a diet can be lowered by reducing cations increasing anions or a combination of both.

Studies show that a more positive dietary cation anion balance dcab can be an important part of the successful control of exercise induced acidity. Introduction little research has been conducted on the effects of dietary cation anion balance dcab on horses. Designed experiment to study the effects of dietary cation anion balance on mineral balance in the non exercised horse. Dcab is defined as meq na k ci kg dietary dry matterj 2 this definition takes into account only the monovalent elements sodium.

Effect of dietary cation anion balance on plasma glucose in horses following anaerobic exercise. Four diets were fed with a low medium low medium high and high dietary cation anion balance calculated as meq na k cl kg of diet dry matter for a 21 day adjustment period followed by a 72hour collection period. Dietary cation anion balance low 27. Sodium balance was higher in those horses consumingthe highdiet versus the mediumlow and.

Reducing dietary cation anion difference. Method used to calculate dietary cation anion balance dcab. Medium low 130 medium high 223 high 354 calculated as. Dry matter digestibility was lower and thus fecal output was greater in those horses consuming the low versus the high diet.

Horses on the hp diet. The feed used in this example is alfalfa hay. An equivalent is the weight of the element that carries a single charge. Potassium citrate and sodium bicarbonate were added to diet h to achieve the desired dcab.

Each of three isocaloric diets designated as low medium and high on the basis of dietary cation anion balance dcab values of 85 190 and 380 respectively were fed to horses for 14 days. Six crossbred wethers average bw 67 8 kg were fed rations with high ca 74 dry basis or normal ca 45 and three different dietary cation anion treatments which differed in their mineral supplementation. Dietary cation anion balance is important in animals to maintain systemic acid base balance and osmotic pressure in order both to protect the integrity of cells and. However this phenomenon has been studied extensively in dairy cattle swine and poultry.