Plasma potassium - an indicator of protein catabolism in deer?
N.B. Jopson, P.F. Fennessy and J. M. Thompson
AgResearch Invermay, Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel.
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1997,
57: 144-146
Elevated plasma potassium (K+ ) concentrations well
outside the normal range for deer have been reported during the rut. The
effects of season and nutrition on plasma K+ concentration
were examined in two experiments in farmed red and fallow deer. In
Experiment 1 castrate and entire red stags were fed ad libitum on
pasture and blood sampled fortnightly over 11 months. Except for a
transitory peak at the beginning of Experiment 1, red entires and
castrates showed no abnormal plasma K+ concentrations over
the 11 month period. In Experiment 2, a castrate group of fallow bucks
were fed to lose a similar amount of live weight as entires over the
rut. When plasma K+ concentration was expressed as a function
of changes in muscle weight there was a significant negative
relationship (P<0.05) in the castrates. There was no relationship in
the entires, although the measure of change in muscle weight could have
been confounded by changes in water content of the musculature over the
rut. The occurrence of hyperkalaemia in deer was variable. Further work
is required to clarify the conditions that lead to its expression.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
red deer; fallow deer; potassium; hyperkalaemia; fasting; muscle
catabolism.
Last Updated 12-09-1998
