[Carbohydrate metabolism in highly productive cows that have recently calved]

Investigations were carried out with 45 normal cows and 45 cows with disturbed carbohydrate metabolism (ketosis). The animals of the groups were all high-producing, and have recently calved, being equated according to the principle of analogues. Studied were the indices that were most characteristic of carbohydrate metabolism--total amount of VFA in the rumen along with individual fractions (acetic, propionic, and butyric acid) and total ketones; blood level of FVA, sugar, and ketone bodies. It was found that in the rumen of normal cows the content of VFA was 564.6 +/- 42.4 mg%, and that of the fractions was: acetic acid-342.2 +/- 14.2 mg%, propionic acid-166.8 +/- 16.3 mg%, butyric acid-56.8 +/- 5.6 mg%, and ketone bodies-6.4 +/- 0.8 mg%. In the blood VFA were 8.2 +/- 1.2 mg%, sugar was 66.3 +/- 1.4 mg%, and ketones were 7.6 +/- 1.8 mg%. With ketosis-affected cows, exhibiting disturbed carbohydrate metabolism these values were: in the rumen-VFA-322.6 +/- 28.4 mg%, acetic acid-120.8 +/- 17.8 mg%, propionic acid-76.4 +/- 12.2 mg%, butyric acid-126.0 +/- 9.5 mg%, and ketone bodies-93.2 +/- 1.8 mg%; in the blood-VFA-72.4 +/- 9.2 mg%, sugar-32.3 +/- 1.9 mg%, and ketone bodies-106.6 +/- 8.6 mg%. Analysis of the results with normal carbohydrate metabolism has revealed that the total amount of VFA in the rumen consisted of 60.6% acetic acid, 29.5% propionic acid, and 10.0% butyric acid.