Equine Flashcards
Horses ingest a high ______ and low _____ diet
high fibre (highly developed cecum for this) low starch
Which practices prevent the horse from practicing normal feeding behaviours?
confinement- can’t forage for food
limited access to grasses - eating fibrous material triggers the secretion of far more saliva than does eating grain
Large meals- intermittent large meals result in too much
High starch diets- incomplete digestion
Which animal is initial chewing more important in: ruminants or equines
equines - no opportunity to re-chew to break down cell walls
Equine stomach
Small volume (5-15L) Ingesta- fluid pass through quickly pH- 2-6
High cell wall CHO content inhibits?
absorption of sugars and starches
Lipids often added to diet of?
high performance horses
horses with difficulty metabolizing CHOs
Besides electrolyte and water reabsorption what else occrus in the horse colon?
microbial fermentation
absorption of VFAs
-the water follows electrolytes and VFAs
requirements for efficicent microbial fermentation in the cecum are similar to those of the rumen:
appropriate substrates to feed microbes long enough transit time for microbes to multiply and digest substrates Suitable temp anaerobic conditions osmolality neutral pH removal of indigestible waste
Conversion of nitrogen via the urea cycle decreases need for?
protein in diet
-
Liver produces urea from?
nitrogen catabolism of proteins
ammonia from colonic fermenttion
Unlike ruminants, microbial proteins are lost?
in feces (not digested) since they are not delivered to the SI
Equine cecum and colon
haustral contractions propulsive retropulsive pacemakers - cecum, RV colon, pelvic flexure sphincters- ileocecal, cecocolic
Osmolarity
maintained by rapid absorption of VFAs and ability of water to cross the colonic epithelium very quickly in either direction
