Nutrition and Feedlot Health

Abstract

The treatment was successful, but the animal starved. This may be an extreme example but, in ruminants, one cannot divorce nutrition from therapy in sick animals. It might be useful to briefly review the chain of events which are nutritionally related to an infectious disease resulting in fever.

Fever can be defined as any condition of positive heat balance not due solely to food, exercise or environment. From a nutritional point of view, the important item is the increase in basal metabolism. Since the velocity of biochemical reactions follows van Hoff’s law, basal metabolism should increase 10 to 20% per 1°C in body temperature. If so, then the use of nutrients for basal metabolism can easily double in a very sick animal. Since high fevers are usually accompanied by a decline or loss of appetite, the rapid decline in body stores is easily understood.