Urea excretion in ruminants. I. Studies in sheep and cattle offered the same diet

Abstract

Cattle and sheep were offered the same diet in amounts according to the ratio of their metabolic body size, and were intravenously infused with urea in amounts according to the same ratio. An apparent limit to the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen occurred at lower plasma urea and rumen ammonia concentrations in cattle than in sheep. Associated with ingestion of feed there was a decline in the concentrations of both rumen ammonia and plasma urea, and in urinary urea excretion. It is suggested that (a) the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen and the urinary excretion of urea are reciprocally related, and (b) the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen and the consequent reduction in plasma urea concentration associated with feed ingestion may account for the decline in urinary urea excretion after ingestion of feed, rather than changes in the urine flow rate and in renal tubular mechanisms.