Effect of a Physiological Cation-Anion Imbalance on the Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Rabbits

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Abstract
The failure of rabbits to grow, maintain normal blood hemoglobin and bone ash levels when fed a basal diet containing a timothy hay grown at a particular location in New Hampshire was corrected when this diet was supplemented with salts of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium carrying an anion metabolized to CO2 and H2O by the animal body. Salts of these elements carrying a chloride or sulfate anion fed at the same milliequivalent level were ineffective. It is suggested that under the dietary conditions of this experiment the rabbit suffers a physiological cation-anion imbalance or an acidosis, and that this condition is interrelated with the mineral metabolism of the animal. It was shown that this mineral imbalance induces calcium and potassium deficiencies in the presence of apparent adequate dietary levels of these elements, and it is further suggested that this interrelationship might involve the metabolism of other cations.