152 III. OXIDATION AND METABOLISM 



in the treatment of acetonemia in cows with vitamin A/^ 1-423 g^ similar 

 therapy in the case of ewes would seem to be of doubtful value. Pugh'*'"^ 

 reported that ketonemia in sheep is accompanied by a marked decrease in 

 the rate at which injected acetate is metabolized. 



c'. Ketosis in Goats: The goat apparently develops ketonemia in a 

 manner similar to that of sheep. Here again, spontaneous acetonemia has 

 been noted only in females. Forbes**^ reported the following values for 

 blood acetone bodies in goats on low-calorie diets, expressed in mg. %: 

 late pregnancy, 25; early lactation, 18; the eleventh week of lactation, 4; 

 and early pregnancy, 3.7. Normal values were found to range from 2 to 4 

 mg. %. Low blood-sugar values (Av. 28 mg. %) were also noted during the 

 period of maximum ketonemia, while the maximum blood-sugar value (46 

 mg. %) occurred in conjunction with a minimum blood acetone value. 

 Typical clinical ketosis was observed in a herd of goats in which twelve 

 fatalities resulted among the pregnant does.^^- Ketonuria values as high 

 as 450 mg. % were recorded. 



d'. Ketosis in Hogs: The occurrence of ketosis in swine was not recog- 

 nized until 1940, when Hull and Nolan^^^ described three cases which had 

 been so diagnosed in the Department of Animal Pathology of the Kentucky 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. The occurrence of spontaneous keto- 

 nemia in swine was confirmed by Sampson, Hanawalt, and Graham.*^^ 

 On the other hand, young pigs were shown by Woods^^^ to have a "low 

 liability to ketosis." This was likewise reported by Hanawalt and Samp- 

 son, *^^ who failed to demonstrate any significant ketonemia or ketonuria in 

 a pig fasted for as long as twenty-eight days. 



Although the blood and urine of healthy pregnant and lactating sows 

 contain only traces of acetone bodies,^^® it is believed that, when their intake 

 of readily available carbohydrate or potential carbohydrate is insufficient, 

 ketosis develops.*^'* This would suggest that the etiology of ketonemia in 

 cows and ewes is identical with that in the sow. Sampson, ^^^ and Sampson, 

 Hanawalt, and Graham^^^ recorded the following data during late pregnancy 

 on healthy sows (a) and on those having ketosis (6): ketone bodies, (a), 

 trace (4), and (6), 60.2 mg. % (36.1 to 95.2); blood sugar, (a), 62.1 mg. % 

 (40.7 to 80.2) and (6), 63.6 (54.2 to 79.1). Although there is evidence that 



*« P. S. Pugh, Nature, 170, 978-979 (1952). 



"" R. M. Forbes, Cornell Vet., S3, 27-47 (1943). 



«« A. T. Gilyard and R. T. Gilyard, Cornell Vet., 25, 201-202 (1935). 



*" F. E. Hull and A. F. Nolan, /. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc., 97, 162-164 (1940). 



^" J. Sampson, V. M. Hanawalt, and R. Graham, Cornell Vet., 33, 355-359 (1943). 



"5 E. B. Woods, Am. J. Physiol., 79, 321-340 (1926-1927). 



*^6 V. M. Hanawalt and J. Sampson, Am. J. Vet. Research, 8, 73-81 (1946). 



