Re: Calcium metabloism
Joyce Kellenberger (joyce@homer.ca.boeing.com)
Tue, 26 Nov 96 18:51:50 PST
>
> OK, it's been a *long* day, and I'm too beat to check my references
> right now, but my point about not getting your knickers in a twist about a
> little Ca:P imbalance in a bran mash is based on two things:
> one, that you are not feeding bran mashes at every meal
> two, that serum calcium levels are regulated by the parathyroid
> glands, not by the gut. Now, as I said, I;m too tired to look it up
> tonight, but periparturient dairy cows, certainly animals with a *high*
> calcium requirement, are much less likely to suffer from hypocalcemia if fed
> a low calcium diet than a higher calcium diet. Why? Because if the calcium
> requirements are being met solely by the diet, the parathyroid become
> "sluggish", and therefore unable to quickly meet the body's demands for
> more calcium quickly by mobilizing stored calcium.Seems to me that an
> analogy with distance horses wouldn't be too far-fetched.
> (I mean, this is why horse fed diets high in alfalfa tie up.)
>
Someone please stop me before I hurt myself, or get hurt! I just can't let
this one go, and no, I'm not educated in animal husbandry, and I may be way
off base here, but when, oh when, is a dairy cow like an endurance horse?
I can just see me riding 'ol Bossie to my top ten finish! OK, maybe horse
and cow physiology is similar, but I just have to check for myself on this
one. Sorry.