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OCR for page 19
Disorders Related
to Nutrition
URINARY CALCULI
Urinary calculi are occasionally a problem during the spring
in pregnant and lactating female mink and during the summer
in male kits (Leoschke et al., 1952; Nielsen, 1956) where losses
have been reported to exceed 10 percent (Gorham et al.,
1972~. The occurrence of the disorder is usually greater in the
inland areas, where diets are composed primarily of meat
products, than along coastal areas, where fish constitute the
main component of the diet (Leoschke et al., 1952~.
Mink urinary calculi consist primarily of magnesium am-
monium phosphate hexahydrate (Leoschke et al., 1952), and
their formation appears to be favored by the presence of alka-
line urine. As these calculi are soluble in solutions below pH 6
(Leoschke and Elvehjem, 1954), substances are often added to
mink diets to reduce urine pH levels and prevent urolithiasis.
Leoschke and Elvehjem (1954' reported that the addition of
1 g of ammonium chloride per mink per day to the diet pre-
vented formation of urinary calculi. Urolithiasis can also be
prevented by the addition to the diet of 2.0 percent phosphoric
acid (75 percent acid concentration) on a dry matter basis
(Leoschke, 1956~. This is equivalent to 0.8 percent phosphoric
acid (75 percent feed grade) with diets containing 15 to 20 per-
cent fortified cereal and 80 to 85 percent fresh/frozen
feedstuffs.
Sulfuric acid is frequently used as a preservative for fish
silage in the Scandinavian countries. This is also helpful in
reducing urinary calculi. Three percent sulfuric acid by
weight and 0.5 to 1.0 percent acetic or formic acid added to
the fish produces a silage of plI 2.5 to 3.2 Jensen and Joergen-
sen, 1975; Lund, 1975~.
A diet containing 35 percent acid-preserved fish silage has
been successfully fed to mink during the late growth period
(Lund, 1975j; however, the use of silage-containing feeds of
pH less than 5.5 Tiring reproduction and early kit growth has
given unsatisfactory results Joergensen et al., 1976; Poulsen
and ~oergensen, 1977, 1978; Poulsen' 1978) If too high levels
of sulfuric acid-preserved fish silage are fed, the mineral
balance of the diet (Hansen, 1977a) and rate of food passage
through the digestive tract (tIansen, 1977b) are adversely af-
fected. The recommended levels for feeding fish silage to mink
~, ,
are up to 10 percent during reproduction and early growth
and up to 30 percent during the late growth and furring
periods.
WET-BELLY DISEASE
Wet-belly disease occurs predominantly in male mink and i
characterized in the live animal by intermittent soaking of the
fur with urine around the urethral orifice (Figures 8 and 9~.
This causes local irritation and interruption of normal fur
maturation, resulting in a darkened discoloration due to
melanin granules in the inguinal area on the leather side of the
pelt. This disorder is most frequently encountered at the onset
of cold weather prior to pelting and during the breeding sea-
sor1 (Leoschke, 1957, 1962; Gunn, 1962; Schaible et al.,
1962~.
Many factors involving nutrition, genetics, physiology, and
bacteriology have been implicated. Studies by Leoschke
~1959) and Evans et all (1961) have shown a positive relation-
ship between the caloric density of the diet and the occurrence
and severity of the disorder. Others have reported little or no
problem with certain strains of animals receiving high levels
of fat in the diet (Stout et al., 1964, 1965; Evans 1964b,
1967a). Roberts (1959), Schaible et al. (1962), and Aulerich et
al. (1963) have noted greater incidence of the disorder on diets
high in calcium or with wide calcium-to-phosphorus ratios.
Gunn (1962) reported diets that contained high proportions of
raw poultry waste, whole fish, and tripe were conducive to
wet belly in females. He attributed the condition to infections
by Proteus organisms in these feedstuffs and suggested that
stress of cold weather may predispose the animals to the infec-
tion (Gunn, 1966~. Studies by Leoschke (1961), Lauerman
(1964), Stout et al. (1964, 1965), and Pastirnac (1977) have
demonstrated that susceptibility to wet-belly disease appears
to be controlled by genetics, with nutritional factors greatly
influencing the extent and severity of the condition in geneti-
cally susceptible strains. Restricting feed intake from mid-
October to pelting may be helpful in reducing wet-belly in-
cidence.
Is
19
OCR for page 20
20 Nutrient Requirements of Mink and Foxes
FIGURE 8 Typical symptoms of wet-belly disease of mink.
SOURCE: W. L. Leoschke, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso,
Indiana.
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. ~.~,~,~.:
.,.,.,~,...,,..~,..,.,~,.....
. ~
. ~.
..,.~...,..~,,,..,,,~.~, i,.
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FIGURE 9 Normal (left) and wet-belly pelts. SOURCE: J. E.
Oldfield and J. Adair, Oregon State University, Corvallis.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
fish silage
