Drinking salt water enhances rehydration in horses dehydrated by frusemide administration and endurance exercise.
Abstract: Because the primary stimulus for thirst is an increase in plasma tonicity, we hypothesised that dehydrated horses would drink a greater total volume of fluid voluntarily during the first hour of recovery when they were initially offered salt water. To test this hypothesis, bodyweight (bwt), fluid intake (FI) and [Na+] were measured in 6 Arabian horses offered 3 rehydration solutions. After dehydration was induced by frusemide administration (1 mg/kg bwt, i.v.) followed by 45 km treadmill exercise, water (W), 0.45% NaCl and 0.9% NaCl were offered, in a randomised order, during the initial 5 min after completing exercise. Horses were subsequently placed in a stall and further intake of plain water during the first hour of recovery was measured. By the end of exercise, horses lost 5.2 +/- 0.2, 5.6 +/- 0.3 and 5.7 +/- 0.2% (P>0.05) bwt and FI during the first 5 min of recovery was 10.5 +/- 0.7, 11.6 +/- 0.8 and 11.6 +/- 1.5 l (P>0.05) for W, 0.45% NaCl and 0.9% NaCl, respectively. After 20 min of recovery, [Na+] had decreased with W but remained unchanged from the end exercise values for both saline solutions. During the initial hour of recovery, further water intake was 0.9 +/- 0.4, 5.0 +/- 0.5 and 6.9 +/- 0.7 l (P<0.05) for W, 0.45% NaCl and 0.9% NaCl, respectively. Therefore, total FI was 11.4 +/- 0.5, 16.6 +/- 0.7 and 18.5 +/- 1.7 l (P<0.05) for W, 0.45% NaCl and 0.9% NaCl, respectively, and persisting bwt loss after 60 min of recovery was greater (P<0.05) for W (3.5%) than for the 2 saline solutions (24% for 0.45% NaCl and 1.9% for 0.9% NaCl). In conclusion, providing salt water as the initial rehydration fluid maintained an elevated [Na+] and resulted in greater total FI and recovery of bwt loss during the first hour of recovery, in comparison to offering only plain water.
Publication Date: 2002-10-31 PubMed ID: 12405743DOI: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2002.tb05475.xGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The research article illustrates that offering salt water to dehydrated horses aids better recovery in terms of fluid intake and weight gain when compared to consuming plain water, following exercise.
Objective and Hypothesis
- The objective of the research was to find the most effective rehydration solution for horses following dehydration which was induced by frusemide administration and endurance exercise.
- The researchers hypothesized that dehydrated horses, when offered salt water, would voluntarily drink a greater total volume of fluid during the first hour of recovery. This is based on the principle that the primary stimulus for thirst is an increase in plasma tonicity.
Research Methodology
- Six Arabian horses were chosen for the study and three types of rehydration solutions were tested: plain water (W), 0.45% sodium chloride solution (NaCl), and 0.9% sodium chloride solution.
- Dehydration was induced by giving frusemide (1 mg/kg body weight) intravenously to the horses followed by 45 km treadmill running.
- After the exercise, the horses were offered one of the three rehydration solutions randomly in the first 5 minutes. After this, they were moved to a stall where the intake of plain water during the first hour of recovery was monitored.
Results and Findings
- By the end of exercise, horses lost around 5.2 – 5.7% of their bodyweight. Fluid intake during the first 5 minutes of recovery did not vary significantly across the three rehydration solutions.
- However, during the first hour of recovery, horses that drank salt water ingested significantly greater quantities of plain water. Consequently, total fluid intake was the highest for the group that was initially given 0.9% NaCl, followed by 0.45% NaCl and plain water being the least.
- Furthermore, bodyweight loss after 60 minutes of recovery was less for the groups offered the saline solutions as opposed to the group offered only plain water.
- Notably, plasma sodium concentration decreased with water intake but remained steady for both saline solutions.
Conclusion
- Offering salt water initially to dehydrated horses maintained a higher plasma sodium concentration and led to an increased total fluid intake and better recovery of weight loss.
- Therefore, salt water resulted in superior rehydration compared to plain water during the first hour of recovery.
Cite This Article
APA
Butudom P, Schott HC, Davis MW, Kobe CA, Nielsen BD, Eberhart SW.
(2002).
Drinking salt water enhances rehydration in horses dehydrated by frusemide administration and endurance exercise.
Equine Vet J Suppl(34), 513-518.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2002.tb05475.x Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1314, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Administration, Oral
- Animals
- Dehydration / chemically induced
- Dehydration / therapy
- Dehydration / veterinary
- Diuretics / adverse effects
- Drinking / drug effects
- Drinking / physiology
- Exercise Test
- Fluid Therapy / methods
- Fluid Therapy / veterinary
- Furosemide / adverse effects
- Horse Diseases / chemically induced
- Horse Diseases / therapy
- Horses
- Male
- Physical Conditioning, Animal / adverse effects
- Physical Endurance / physiology
- Random Allocation
- Sodium Chloride / administration & dosage
- Water / administration & dosage
- Water-Electrolyte Balance / drug effects
- Water-Electrolyte Balance / physiology
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Crabtree NE, Epstein KL. Current Concepts in Fluid Therapy in Horses. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:648774.
- Freeman DE. Effect of Feed Intake on Water Consumption in Horses: Relevance to Maintenance Fluid Therapy. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:626081.
- Walker WT, Callan RJ, Hill AE, Tisher KB. Effects of oral powder electrolyte administration on packed cell volume, plasma chemistry parameters, and incidence of colic in horses participating in a 6-day 162-km trail ride. Can Vet J 2014 Aug;55(8):765-71.
- Tennent-Brown BS, Goetz TE, Manohar M, Hassan AS, Freeman DE, Bundy JS, Evans MR. Hyperhydration prior to a simulated second day of the 3-day moderate intensity equestrian competition does not cause arterial hypoxemia in Thoroughbred horses. Eur J Appl Physiol 2006 Jul;97(4):462-70.
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