Poloxalene and a
mineral mixture feed supplement patented for the treatment of
emphysema,
polyarthritis, and other
pectin related diseases were tested in two trials for their ability to prevent bloat in cattle fed fresh alfalfa. Each trial had a crossover design using three Jersey steers with rumen
fistulas per group. Each trial period continued until the total number of cases of bloat reached > or = 24. Treatments were given at 0800 each day. The
mineral mixture was given at 100 g/d and 190 mg/kg
body weight per day in the first and second trials, respectively.
Poloxalene, which was tested only in the second trial, was given at 23 mg/kg
body weight per day. Each group of steers was then fed 200 kg of freshly harvested alfalfa in the vegetative to early bloom stages of growth at 0830. In the first trial, only 69% as many cases of bloat occurred on the
mineral mixture as on the control treatment, but no significant difference was detected in the second trial. The potency of the alfalfa may have been higher in the second trial, when forage dry matter was lower,
magnesium and soluble
nitrogen were higher, and bloat occasionally occurred twice a day. Bloat did not occur when the steers were treated with
poloxalene. In these trials,
poloxalene was completely effective in preventing bloat, but the
mineral mixture was only partially so.