Lecture Exam 2 Flashcards
What is a nutrient?
Any food that is involved in the basic functions of the body
What basic functions do nutrients perform?
- Acting as structural components
- Enhancing or being involved in chemical reactions of metabolism
- Transporting substances into, through, or out of the body
- Maintaining temperature
- Supplying energy
What is an essential nutrient?
A substance that must be obtained in the diet
What is a non-essential nutrient?
The body can make sufficient quantities
What is an organic compound?
C-C bonds or C-H bonds
What is an inorganic compound?
No C-C or C-H bonds, therefore includes water and minerals
What are the 6 basic nutrients?
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Fat
- Protein
- Carbs
- Water being the most important
Do younger or older animals have more water in their bodies?
Younger, leaner animals will have more water than older fatter animals
What are the functions of water?
- Acts as a solvent to dissolve substances
- Hydrolysis for enzymatic digestion of carbs, proteins and fats
- Regulation of body temp due to its high specific heat
- Provides elasticity, lubricant, cushioning, and moisture
Which dog breed is the only one that can sweat through it’s skin aside from its nasal plains and foot pads?
Xoloitzcuintli
What quality of water may result in crystals in animals?
Water high in calcium and magnesium in hard water
What kind of bacteria in water may be problematic for animals?
Coliform bacteria, which is fermented gram-negative enteric bacilli found in sewage, E.coli, klebsiella and enterobacta
What are the requirements of water intake daily for an animal?
40-60 ml/kg/day = 1 oz/lb/day
What is normal daily urine output for an animal?
24 ml/kg/day = 1 ml/kg/hr
At what percentage loss of water incompatible with life?
Loss of 15% of body weight or greater will result in death
What can result from water intoxication?
Consuming large amounts of fresh water can dilute osmolality
What are some examples of carbohydrates?
Glucose, starches and fiber
What kind of carbs can animals easily break down?
Starches which are a-glycosidic bonds, but not fiber with are b-glycosidic bonds
What are the functions of carbs?
- Energy: glycolysis produces ATP
- Source of heat: breakdown of carbs produces CO2, H2O and heat
- Building blocks of other nutrients
- Energy storage
What other nutrients do carbs become?
Amino acids, lactose, glycoprotein, glycoside, and Vitamin C
Do dogs and cats have a dietary requirement of carbs?
No, they do not have an absolute dietary requirement, but they do require glucose or glucose precursors
What are some readily digestible carbs needs during gestation, lactation and growth?
Corn, rice, wheat, barley and oats
What is the minimum amount of carbs needed for gestating and lactating females?
Minimum of 23% carbs in food
What can happen to cats with too many carbs?
More than 40% of carb intake will lead to maldigestion such as diarrhea, bloating, gas, etc
What are the functions of fiber?
- Provides up to 75% of daily energy requirements in cattle and horses
- Manages body weight
- Helps with diarrhea and constipation
Why is fiber important in patients with diabetes?
Slowly fermentable fibers help animals regulate the breakdown of calories
What could result as an excess of fiber in an animal?
May impair the absorption of minerals, otherwise deficiency or excess is not typically a problem
What is protein?
Large, complex molecules that can be composed of Ca, H, O2, N, and sometimes S and P
What is the typical chemical formula for a protein?
A carbon atom covalently bonded to 4 chemical groups
What are the functions of protein?
- Form muscle and other tissues
- They can be enzymes, hormones, and antibodies
- Serve as source of energy instead of carbs
- Helps control osmotic pressure (albumin)
- Serve as carrier molecules
Can essential amino acids be made in the body?
No, they can not be synthesized in sufficient quantities and must be supplied by diet
How many essential amino acids are needed for the dog? The cat?
10, the cat is all 10 plus taurine
Why do kittens and cats have higher protein requirements than other domestic species?
Because cats are true carnivores
What clinical signs may be seen with deficiency of protein?
- Reduced growth rate
- Anemia
- Infertility
- Reduced milk production
- Alopecia/poor hair coat
Is excess protein a problem for animals?
Not generally, but may be for animals with impaired renal or liver functions because the liver filters ammonia and the kidney excretes it from the body
What are lipids?
Hydrocarbon molecules linked by covalent bonds
Are lipids soluble in water?
No, they are hydrophobic so they can not mix well with water
What is the difference between fats and oils?
Lipids that are solid at room temperature are called fats, while lipids that are liquid are referred to as oils
What are the functions of lipids?
To supply energy and they are required for some physiologic functions such as the absorption of fat soluble vitamins
What vitamins are fat soluble?
Vitamins A, D, E, and K
What omega-6 fatty acids are considered essential in cats and dogs?
Linoleic acid is essential and arachidonic acid is considered essential when dealing with inflammation and pain perception
What can result as a deficiency of lipids?
Too little may impair wound healing, cause dry, scaly skin, and predispose the animal to pyoderma
What are minerals?
Inorganic elements in food such as Ca, P, Na, Mg, K, Cl, and S
What are minerals needed for?
- Form structural components such as bones
- Maintain osmotic pressure, acid base balance, muscle contraction, membrane permeability
- Act as catalyst and cofactors to enzymes and hormones
What are the 5 basic characteristics needed to be considered a vitamin?
- Must be an organic compound different from fat, protein or carbs
- Must be a component of the diet
- Must be essential in minute amounts
- Absence must cause a deficiency
- Must not be synthesized in high quantities
What are some examples of vitamin deficiency syndrome?
- Vitamin D can lead to rickets
- Vitamin C can lead to scurvy
What are the functions of vitamins?
- Regulate body processes
- Promote growth and development
- Protect the body from toxic compounds
- Build and maintain tissues
- Help energy usage
- Assist in disease prevention
Which vitamins are considered anti-oxidants?
Vitamins A, C and E
Which animals require Vitamin C to live?
Primates, guinea pigs and some fish
What is a vitamin like compound needed by some breeds?
Carnitine is needed by boxers, doberman pinchers, great dans and irish wolfhounds, otherwise their hearts may be affected
What is the bare minimum energy requirement needed to sustain life?
Basal energy requirement is when an animal is awake but resting in a fasted state
What is the energy requirement for a normal but fed animal at rest?
Resting energy requirement that all the animal’s needs are based on
What is the difference between BER and RER?
RER includes the energy needed for digestion, absorption, metabolism and recovery from previous activity
What is the DER?
The daily energy requirement is the most realistic energy requirement range for most animals
How does DER differ from MER?
DER includes energy needed for work, lactation, growth and maintaining body temperature
What is a Joule?
A unit of energy that expresses daily energy requirement of an animal by its power needs or watts
What is a calorie?
The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 g of H2O from 14C to 15.5C
What is a Calorie?
Equal to 1,000 calories
What is the largest source of energy for all living things?
The sun, and ATP is the most important energy compound
What are the different types of dietary energy?
- Gross energy
- Digestible energy
- Metabolize energy
- Net energy
What is gross energy?
The total heat produced by burning a food item in a bomb calorimeter
What is digestible energy?
Energy remaining after the energy lost from feces is subtracted
What is metabolizable energy?
The energy remaining after the energy from feces, urine, and combustible gases is subtracted
What is net energy?
Used for maintenance from heat loss during digestion, absorption and food, and production for growth, lactation, reproduction and physical performance
What is the RER formula?
70 + 30 (BW in kg) = Kcal
What are the physical actions of digestion?
Chewing, grinding in the GI tract, and digestive turbulence
Where the grinding occur in the GI tract of a ruminant? Of a bird?
In the omassum of a ruminant and the ventriculus or gizzard of a bird
What occurs during chemical action of digestion?
HCl produced by parietal cells in the stomach digests protein and bile acids are produced by the liver which aid in lipid digestion and absorption
What is enzymatic action of digestion?
An enzyme (lipase) is a complex protein that speeds up a chemical reaction without being altered in the process, this then reduces the energy needed for digestion
What is absorption?
A set of processes that result in passage of small molecules from the lumen of the gut through cells of the GI tract to the bloodstream
What are the different types of absorption?
- Passive diffusion
- Active transport
- Facilitated diffusion
- Phagocytosis
What is passive diffusion?
Passage of substances from lumen into intestinal cells due to concentration gradient; high to low, therefore no energy is required
What is active transport?
Absorption from the lumen to the intestinal cell against a concentration gradient; low to high, therefore requires carrier protein and energy
What is facilitated diffusion?
Absorption from lumen to intestinal cells using a carrier protein; high to low
What is phagocytosis?
Absorption when part of the villi cell breaks off and engulfs a nutrient, therefore no digestion is required
What are the steps of digestion?
- Prehension
- Mastication
- Salivation
- Swallowing
- Stomach
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
- Defecation
How do rumens chew their food?
First they form a bolus, swallow, rumen, regurgitation that mastication, repeat
What is saliva composed of?
Mucin, salivary amylase and 99% water
What is salivary amylase?
An enzyme used to breakdown starch; not present in cattle, dogs, cats or horses
What is the function of salivation?
- Lubricant, solvent, wash, and buffer for NaCO2 in ruminants
What part of the esophagus does not allow for reflux up?
The cardiac sphincter when swallowing
What is mechanical digestion?
Muscular contractions mix digesta with enzymes and chemicals
What is chemical digestion?
When HCl is produced by parietal cells, then it unfolds proteins and activates enzymes
What are the two types of enzymatic digestion?
- Proteases which are produced by chief cells and include pepsin and rennin
- Gastric lipase, also produced by chief cells and start the breakdown of lipids
What enzymes protects the stomach from self digestion?
Mucin, HCl, and urease
What is the primary site for digestion? And absorption?
The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine for digestion, and the jejunum is the primary site for absorption; some absorption may still take place in the ileum, the last part of the small intestine
What is bile?
Made in the liver from cholesterol and stored in the gallbladder
What is the function of bile?
Emulsification which solubilizes fat and the formation of micelles which aid in absorption of fat
What is pancreatic juice?
Proteases, lipases and amylase; also contains NaCO3 and HCO3
What is duodenal juice?
Secreted by the brush border, its an alkaline fluids the aids in neutralizing the acid chyme of the stomach
Are the contents of the large intestine sterile?
No, it contains bacteria, protozoa and fungi
Although limited, what can be absorbed by the large intestine?
Volatile fatty acids, water, and electrolytes
What is cecotrophy?
It describes the type of feces rabbits produce; the pellet type and soft feces that contains B vitamins and microbial proteins
What is the contents of fecal matter?
- Water
- Undigested food
- Residues of digestive enzymes
- Sloughed cells
- Bacteria
What is the deciduous dental formula of a ruminant?
2 (I 0/3, C 0/1, PM 3/3) = 20
What is the adult dental formula of a ruminant?
2 (I 0/3, C 0/1, PM 3/3, M 3/3) = 32
What animal develops “fighting teeth” aka lateral incisors?
Llamas; males between 2-3 years of age and females at 1-5 years
Do ruminants have an esophagus sphincter?
No because the muscle contractions move in both directions
What is the order of the ruminant system?
Rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum, which is the most similar to the glandular stomach
Which part of the ruminant system is the largest?
The rumen, it can hold up for 40 gallons in a cow and is considered a large fermentation vat that is covered with papillae to increase surface area
What is the smallest part of the ruminant system?
The reticulum which honeycomb lining interacts with the rumen to mix contents
What structure in a new born ruminant essentially makes them a monogastric animal for their few weeks of life?
The esophageal groove allows milk to bypass the rumen so it moves directly into the abomasum where rennin helps to process milk
What is the optimal ruminant pH to prevent esophageal ulceration?
Between 6.0 and 6.2
What type of system is the rumen fermentation?
It is an anaerobic (CO2) system ideal for microbacterial fermentation with a warm, moist and continual supply of substrates
How does rumen fermentation work?
Microbes digest cellulose and starch and ferments them into volatile fatty acids, which provide 60-80% of energy needs
What are the most important volatile fatty acids?
- Acetic acid (acetate) which mostly comes from cellulose
- Propionic acid (propionate) mostly comes from starch
- Butyric acid (butyrate) derived from acetic acid
What is bloat?
A severe distention of the left side of the ruminant due to gases not being eructed resulting in a “pinging” sound
Why is bloat a serious problem in ruminants?
Because a swollen rumen can compress the lungs and interrupt blood flow result in death by asphyxiation
What is rumen acidosis?
Generally due to high levels of corn concentrate in the diet, the pH decreases to 4.5-5.0 which in turn kills off good microorganisms
What are some signs or rumen acidosis?
Decreased intake, abdominal pain, dehydration, laminitis, staggers, coma
What is a rumen fistula?
A permanent opening into the left paralumbar fossa and dorsal sac of the rumen used for management, research and inoculation of microbes
How is the rumen stratification made up?
- Top: gases
- Middle: today’s hay
- Bottom: grain and yesterday’s hay
What is traumatic reticuloperiotonitis?
AKA hardware disease, the reticulum catches heavy objects ingested therefore when the muscles contract, hardware may be forced through the reticulum, diaphragm, and the pericardium
Since the horse has no gallbladder, how is bile released?
Directly from the liver into the small intestines
Where does fermentation occur in the horse since they are more monogastric than ruminant?
The cecum and the colon in the large intestine
What is colic?
A general term referring to abdominal pain
What are the types of colic?
- Impaction
- Enteritis/colitis
- Gastric distention/rupture
- Displacement/volvulus/torsion
- Gas colic
- Spasmodic colic
- Idiopathic
Which type of colic is commonly referred to as “twisted gut”?
Displacement
What type of therapeutic diet is recommended for weight loss?
Low fat, high fiber to help regulate blood glucose levels and increase satiety
What type of diet is recommended for gastritis?
Moist low fat diet because fat is difficult to digest and is therefore not recommended
What type of diet should a patient with enteritis receive?
Highly digestible proteins and carbs, with low fat and fiber for easy digestion
Which sickness should be treated with moderate fiber?
Colitis, fiber will help restore normal intestinal motility and transit time, bind excess water, reestablish normal microflora populations and provide energy for colonocytes
What type of diet should a dog with diabetes get?
Low fat, high fiber, reduced calories
What type of diet should a cat with diabetes get?
High protein, low carb, low calories
What are the important electrolytes in a dog with diabetes?
Mg and Zinc
What is the difference between pain pathway E2 and E3?
Prostaglandin E2 is a pro-inflammatory mediator of inflammation and joint pain, therefore it negatively affects an animal’s pain, E3 protects the body from damage
Which fatty acid is a precursor of pain receptor PGE2?
Omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA), which can be inhibited by steriods
Which fatty acid can help protect the body?
Omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
How do NSAIDS work?
They block both pain receptors COX 1 (protection) and COX 2 (precursor to pain); a preferred medication will block COX 2 but allow COX 1 to function
What kind of diet should be given to a patient with osteoarthritis?
High quality protein that will promote weight loss, preserve lean muscle and supply amino acids for collage synthesis
What is a hypoallergenic diet?
Food particles broken down enough to not be detected by the body
What is an avoidance diet?
Avoid whatever an animal is allergic too, but perform a food trial prior to determine allergen
What is a novel protein diet?
Feed animal protein that is has never had before such as kangaroo, rabbit, lamb etc
Why is ingredient selection important for dogs with allergies?
Because the same ingredient can be included in food but in a different more tolerable form; cornstarch vs corn
What are some supplements recommended for dogs with allergies?
- Fatty acids
- Zinc to promote wound healing and skin health
- Vitamins A and E
What are the recommended dietary measure to help kidney disease?
- Restricted P and Na, also restrict protein to only high quality
- Increased omega-3 FA, K, and vitamin B
- Non-acidifying
- High palatability
What is recommended for a liver disease patient?
Dogs require no less than 20% protein in dry food, cats need at least 30%
- Fiber to bind toxins and inhibit ammonia absorption
- Minerals Z and K to decrease Cu absorption and replace K depletion
- Vitamin B, E, C, and K
What are the 4 D’s of treating heart disease?
- Digoxin
- Diuretics
- Dilators
- Diet
What is the recommended restriction of sodium for cats with heart disease? And for dogs?
0.2-0.4% for cats and 0.1-0.2% for dogs
Why is it important that a patient with heart disease be given potassium in their diet?
Because they may have deficiencies due to medications and anorexia and low levels of K can lead to arrhythmias and muscle weakness and reduce effectiveness of medications
What else beside K should the diet of a heart disease patient be supplemented with?
B-complex, taurine, and carnitine
What is cardiac cachexia?
When a patient is not eating and therefor losing muscle mass due to an accumulation of cytokines breaking down fat and skeletal muscle
How can a patient with cardiac cachexia be managed with diet?
- Feed a high fat diet with quality protein
- Offer several small meals
- Warm food before serving
- Add small amount of sodium free broth
What kind of diet should a patient with FLUTD be fed?
Increase water intake and increase protein to increase urine in volume
What is the goal of the neuro diet?
To add ketones as an energy source for the brain to help prevent seizures
