FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 9000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Home / Equine Research Bank / Equine Vet J / Effect of feed deprivation on daily water consumption in hea...
Equine veterinary journal2020; 53(1); 117-124; doi: 10.1111/evj.13259

Effect of feed deprivation on daily water consumption in healthy horses.

Abstract: Measurements of water consumed by fed healthy horses might not apply to horses that are unwilling or unable to drink or are not fed for any reason. Objective: To examine the effects of feed deprivation on voluntary water consumption compared with fed conditions. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Eight healthy adult Thoroughbred geldings were used in a randomised crossover design so that each horse served as its own control for fed vs feed-deprived conditions. Water intake, bodyweight, physical findings and vital signs were measured during 4 days of feeding and 4 days of feed deprivation. Daily measurements during the trial periods were PCV, TPP, electrolytes, osmolality and triglycerides. Plasma and extracellular fluid volumes were measured in the last 8 hours of the trial periods. Data were analysed with a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures, and statistical significance was P ≤ .05. Results: Feed deprivation immediately and persistently reduced water consumption to ~16% of fed values, with laboratory evidence of mild dehydration on day 4. Conclusions: Changes in total body water and in water and electrolyte excretion or conservation through faeces and urine were not measured. Conclusions: Feed consumption has a marked effect on water requirements in healthy horses. Because current guidelines for water needs were obtained in the fed state, they might not apply to horses that are denied feed for any reason or have reduced feed intake. This study provides new information on water consumption in horses that should apply to this essential nutrient in health and disease.
© 2020 EVJ Ltd.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2020-03-30 PubMed ID: 32150657DOI: 10.1111/evj.13259Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Veterinary

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research study investigates how feed deprivation, or lack of food, impacts the amount of water healthy horses voluntarily consume and the potential effects of this on their overall health.

Research Objective

The primary aim of this research was to determine whether lack of feed impacts the amount of voluntary water consumption in horses. This was conducted as the measurements of water consumed by horses which were fed regularly may not reflect the water consumption of horses that are not fed or unable to drink for any reason.

Research Methodology

  • Eight healthy adult Thoroughbred geldings were used in this study and a randomised crossover design was employed. This design allowed each horse to serve as its own control in comparing conditions of being fed versus being deprived of feed.
  • Various parameters like water intake, bodyweight, physical findings, and vital signs were measured over 4-day periods of being fed and being deprived of food.
  • Measurements of PCV (Packed Cell Volume) which refers to the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood, TPP (Total Plasma Proteins) which represent the sum of proteins in the liquid portion of the blood, electrolytes, osmolality (a measure of the concentration of a solution) and triglycerides were taken daily during the trial periods.
  • The plasma and extracellular fluid volumes were measured in the last 8 hours of the trial periods.
  • Data collected were analysed using a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. A statistical significance level of P ≤ .05 was used.

Research Findings

  • The research found that deprivation of feed immediately and persistently reduced water consumption to approximately 16% of the values when the horses were fed.
  • There was laboratory evidence showing mild dehydration on the fourth day of feed deprivation.

Research Conclusions

  • The study concluded that feed consumption essentially impacts the water requirements in healthy horses. The changes in total body water and in water and electrolyte excretion or conservation through faeces and urine were not measured.
  • Since the current guidelines for water needs in horses were obtained while feeding, they might not apply to horses that are denied feed for any reason or have reduced feed intake.
  • The study contributes new information regarding water consumption in horses in relation to their feed intake. These findings should help inform the understanding and management of this essential nutrient in health and disease conditions.

Cite This Article

APA
Freeman DE, Mooney A, Giguère S, Claire J, Evetts C, Diskant P. (2020). Effect of feed deprivation on daily water consumption in healthy horses. Equine Vet J, 53(1), 117-124. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13259

Publication

Equine veterinary journal
ISSN: 2042-3306
NlmUniqueID: 0173320
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 53
Issue: 1
Pages: 117-124

Researcher Affiliations

Freeman, David E
  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Mooney, Alexandra
  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Giguère, Steeve
  • Department of Large Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Claire, Jami
  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Evetts, Chloe
  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Diskant, Patricia
  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.

MeSH Terms

  • Animal Feed / analysis
  • Animals
  • Body Fluids / metabolism
  • Body Weight
  • Drinking
  • Electrolytes
  • Horse Diseases
  • Horses
  • Male
  • Triglycerides

Grant Funding

  • Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Grant
  • University of Florida
  • College of Veterinary Medicine

References

This article includes 50 references
  1. Jéquier E, Constant F. Water as an essential nutrient: the physiological basis of hydration.. Eur J Clin Nutr 2010;64:115-23.
  2. Kant AK, Graubard BI, Atchison EA. Intakes of plain water, moisture in foods and beverages, and total water in the adult US population-nutritional, meal pattern, and body weight correlates: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1999-2006.. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:655-63.
  3. Hampson BA, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC. Distances travelled by feral horses in “outback” Australia.. Equine Vet J 2010;42(Suppl 38):582-6.
  4. Sufit E, Houpt KA, Sweeting M. Physiological stimuli of thirst and drinking patterns in ponies.. Equine Vet J 1985;17:12-6.
  5. Kasirer-Izraely H, Choshniak I, Shkolnik A. Dehydration and rehydration in donkeys: the role of the hind gut as a water reservoir.. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 1994;5:89-100.
  6. Tasker JB. Fluid and electrolyte studies in the horse: IV. The effect of fasting and thirsting.. Cornell Vet 1967;57:658-67.
  7. Fonnesbeck PV. Consumption and excretion of water by horses receiving all hay and hay-grain diets.. J Anim Sci 1968;27:1350-6.
  8. Ellis JM, Hollands T, Allen DE. Effect of forage intake on body weight and performance.. Equine Vet J 2002;34(Suppl 34):66-70.
  9. Clarke LL, Argenzio RA, Roberts MC. Effect of feeding on plasma volume and urinary electrolyte clearance in ponies.. Am J Vet Res 1990;51:571-6.
  10. Jansson A, Dahlborn K. Effects of feeding frequency and voluntary salt intake on fluid and electrolyte regulation in athletic horses.. J Appl Physiol 1999;86:1610-6.
  11. Williams S, Horner J, Orton E, Green M, McMullen S, Mobasheri A. Water intake, faecal output and intestinal motility in horses moved from pasture to a stabled management regime with controlled exercise.. Equine Vet J 2015;47:96-100.
  12. National Research Council. Water and water quality.. In: Nutrient requirements of horses, 6th edn. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2007. p. 128-40.
  13. Friend TH. Dehydration, stress, and water consumption of horses during long-distance commercial transport.. J Anim Sci 2000;78:2568-80.
  14. Fortier J, Julliand V, Harris PA, Goachet AG. Current feeding and exercise practices the day of the race in French standardbred trotters.. J Equine Vet Sci 2013;33:348.
  15. Connysson M, Essén-Gustavsson B, Lindberg JE, Jansson A. Effects of feed deprivation on Standardbred horses fed a forage-only diet and a 50:50 forage-oats diet.. Equine Vet J 2010;42(Suppl 38):335-40.
  16. Schott HC, McGlade KS, Molander HA, Leroux AJ, Hines MT. Bodyweight, fluid and electrolyte, and hormonal changes in response to 50 and 100 mile endurance rides.. Am J Vet Res 1997;58:303-9.
  17. Coenen M. Exercise and stress: impact on adaptive processes involving water and electrolytes.. Livest Prod Sci 2005;92:131-45.
  18. Freeman DE, Ferrante PL, Palmer JE. Comparison of the effects of intragastric infusions of equal volumes of water, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, and magnesium sulfate on fecal composition and output in clinically normal horses.. Am J Vet Res 1992;53:1347-53.
  19. Boscan P, Watson Z, Steffey EP. Plasma colloid osmotic pressure and total protein trends in horses during anesthesia.. Vet Anaesth Analg 2007;34:275-83.
  20. Naylor JM. The nutrition of the sick horse.. J Equine Med Surg 1977;1:64-70.
  21. Naylor JM, Kronfeld DS, Acland H. Hyperlipemia in horses: effects of undernutrition and disease.. Am J Vet Res 1980;41:899-905.
  22. Freeman DE, Ferrante PL, Kronfeld DS, Chalupa W. Effect of food deprivation on D-xylose absorption test results in mares.. Am J Vet Res 1989;50:1609-12.
  23. Lester GD, Merritt AM, Kuck HV, Burrow JA. Systemic, renal, and colonic effects of intravenous and enteral rehydration in horses.. J Vet Intern Med 2013;27:554-66.
  24. Carlson GP, Rumbaugh GE, Harrold D. Physiologic alterations in the horse produced by food and water deprivation during periods of high environmental temperatures.. Am J Vet Res 1979;40:982-5.
  25. Rumbaugh GE, Carlson GP, Harrold D. Urinary production in the healthy horse and in horses deprived of feed and water.. Am J Vet Res 1982;43:735-7.
  26. Norris ML, Houpt KA, Houpt TR. The effect of food availability on the physiological responses to water deprivation in ponies.. J. Eq. Vet. Sci. 2013;33:250-6.
  27. Henneke DR, Potter GD, Kreider JL, Yeates BF. Relationship between condition score, physical measurements and body fat percentage in mares.. Equine Vet J 1983;15:371-2.
  28. Kohn CW, Muir WW, Sams R. Plasma volume and extracellular fluid volume in horses at rest and following exercise.. Am J Vet Res 1978;39:871-4.
  29. Carlson GP, Harrold D, Rumbaugh GE. Volume dilution of sodium thiocyanate as a measure of extracellular fluid volume in the horse.. Am J Vet Res 1979;40:587-9.
  30. Magdesian KG. Maintenance fluid therapy in horses.. In: Fielding CL, Magdesian KG, editors. Equine fluid therapy. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2014; p. 175-89.
  31. Dunkel B, McKenzie HC. Severe hypertriglyceridaemia in clinically ill horses: diagnosis, treatment and outcome.. Equine Vet J 2003;35:590-5.
  32. Kleiber M. Body size and metabolic rate.. Physiol Rev 1947;27:511-41.
  33. Groenendyk S, English PB, Abetz I. External balance of water and electrolytes in the horse.. Equine Vet J 1988;20:189-93.
  34. Kleitman N. The effect of starvation on the daily consumption of water by the dog.. Am J Physiol 1927;81:336-40.
  35. Walsh LL. Differences in food, water, and food-deprivation water intake in 16 strains of rats.. J Comp Physiol Psychol 1980;94:775-81.
  36. Gillette-Bellingham K, Bellingham WP. Effects of scheduled food and water deprivation on food intake, water intake and body weight of cage-adapted and cage-naive rats.. Appetite 1986;7:19-39.
  37. Tasker JB. Fluid and electrolyte studies in the horse: III. Intake and output of water, sodium, and potassium in normal horses.. Cornell Vet 1967;57:649-57.
  38. Schott HC. Examination of the urinary system.. In: Reed S, Bayly W, Sellon D, editors. Equine internal medicine, 4th edn. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier, 2018; p. 909-23.
  39. Müller MJ, Enderle J, Pourhassan M, Braun W, Eggeling B, Lagerpusch M. Metabolic adaptation to caloric restriction and subsequent refeeding: the Minnesota Starvation Experiment revisited.. Am J Clin Nutr 2015;102:807-19.
  40. Pointer E, Reisman R, Windham R, Murray L. Starvation and the clinicopathologic abnormalities associated with starved dogs: a review of 152 cases.. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2013;49:101-7.
  41. McKinley MJ, Johnson AK. The physiological regulation of thirst and fluid intake.. News Physiol Sci 2004;19:1-6.
  42. Pritchard JC, Burn CC, Barr ARS, Whay HR. Validity of indicators of dehydration in working horses: A longitudinal study of changes in skin tent duration, mucous membrane dryness and drinking behaviour.. Equine Vet J 2008;40:558-64.
  43. Butudom P, Schott HC, Davis MW, Kobe CA, Nielsen BD, Eberhart SW. Drinking salt water enhances rehydration in horses dehydrated by furosemide administration and endurance exercise.. Equine Vet J 2002;34(Suppl 34):513-8.
  44. Ecke P, Hodgson DR, Rose RJ. Induced diarrhoea in horses. Part 1: fluid and electrolyte balance.. Vet J 1998;155:149-59.
  45. Schoster A, Mosing M, Jalali M, Staempfli HR, Weese JS. Effects of transport, fasting and anaesthesia on the faecal microbiota of healthy adult horses.. Equine Vet J 2016;48:595-602.
  46. Kuhn M, Guschlbauer M, Feige K, Schluesener M, Bester K, Beyerbach M. Feed restriction enhances the depressive effects of erythromycin on equine hindgut microbial metabolism in vitro.. Berl Münch Tierärztl Wschr 2012;125:7-8.
  47. Fielding CL, Magdesian KG, Elliott DA, Cowgill LD, Carlson GP. Use of multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis for estimation of total body water and extracellular and intracellular fluid volumes in horses.. Am J Vet Res 2004;65:320-306.
  48. Ward LC, White KJ, Van der Aa Kuhl K, Cawdell-Smith J, Bryden WL. Body composition assessment in horses using bioimpedance spectroscopy.. J Anim Sci 2016;94:533-41.
  49. Andrews FM, Nadeau JA, Saabye L, Saxton AM. Measurement of total body water content in horses, using deuterium oxide dilution.. Am J Vet Res 1997;58:1060-4.
  50. Sneddon JC, Van der Walt J, Mitchell G. Effect of dehydration on the volumes of body fluid compartments in horses.. J. Arid Environ. 1993;24:397-408.

Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
  1. Fikri F, Hendrawan D, Wicaksono AP, Purnomo A, Khairani S, Chhetri S, Maslamama ST, Purnama MTE. Incidence, risk factors, and therapeutic management of equine colic in Lamongan, Indonesia.. Vet World 2023;16(7):1408-1414.
    doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1408-1414pubmed: 37621536google scholar: lookup
  2. Marichal G, Trigo P, Soto C, Meikle A, Suárez G. Hydroelectrolytic and Acid-Base Parameters after 80 to 115 km Endurance Races (Raid Uruguayo) and Their Association with the Comfort Index.. Animals (Basel) 2023 Feb 14;13(4).
    doi: 10.3390/ani13040670pubmed: 36830457google scholar: lookup
  3. Filippo PAD, Duarte BR, Albernaz AP, Quirino CR. Effects of feed deprivation on physical and blood parameters of horses.. Braz J Vet Med 2021;43:e000321.
    doi: 10.29374/2527-2179.bjvm000321pubmed: 35749104google scholar: lookup
  4. Soroko M, Górniak W, Zielińska P, Górniak A, Śniegucka K, Nawrot K, Korczyński M. Effect of Lentinula edodes on Morphological and Biochemical Blood Parameters of Horses.. Animals (Basel) 2022 Apr 25;12(9).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12091106pubmed: 35565533google scholar: lookup
  5. Crabtree NE, Epstein KL. Current Concepts in Fluid Therapy in Horses.. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:648774.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.648774pubmed: 33855057google scholar: lookup
  6. Freeman DE. Effect of Feed Intake on Water Consumption in Horses: Relevance to Maintenance Fluid Therapy.. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:626081.
    doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.626081pubmed: 33732739google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,357 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.