Evaluation of cation-anion diets in calcium metabolism in ruminants

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of the dietary cation-anion balance (DCAB) on the calcium metabolism in male Nellore steers with a mean age of 10 months. Three experimental diets were tested: a cationic diet, a diet consisting of Tifton hay only, and an anionic diet with +15.2, +23.9 and −10.0 mEq/100 g DM of DCAB values in the diet. The anionic diet was calculated as the addition of salts of ammonium chloride and magnesium sulfate. Based on the isotope dilution technique, the negative DCAB value used in this study (−10.0 mEq/100 g DM) does not affect calcium metabolism, especially endogenous losses and true absorption.