Dietary Cation-Anion Difference in Cattle: Implications for Health and Productivity

The transition period of farm animals usually involves 3 weeks prepartum to 3 weeks after calving. During this phase, the energy demands increase, owing to the growth of the fetus and also the development of the mammary gland. Consequently, it poses the system in pressure resulting in a Negative Energy Balance (NEB) (Martinez et al., 2018; Trevisi and Minuti, 2018). Therefore, this phase encompasses the alteration of energy and mineral metabolism, disturbances in the hormone interaction, and reduced feed intake, which predisposes the animal to metabolic diseases like milk fever (hypocalcemia), ketosis, abdominal displacement, ruminal acidosis, and mastitis (Drackley et al., 2005; Melendez and Risco, 2016). Nutritional intervention may be a pivotal factor in reducing or alleviating metabolic diseases in farm animals. Dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) is presently the crucial target in formulating the ration for post-partum or lactating animals. The dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) is the difference, in millequivalents/100g DM (meq), between biologically strong cations (Na and K) and anions (Cl and S) in the diet (Bani Hassan et al., 2018). Although other minerals have an impact on acidbase metabolism, the four minerals used in dietary cation-anion difference have the greatest effect. Manipulation of acidbase balance can be used to manipulate other biological functions to benefit health and productivity of cows.