Acid‐Base Balance in Camels (Camelus dromedarius): Effects of Exercise and Dehydration

Abstract

There is a lack of information pertaining to the reference levels of acid‐base parameters and the effects of dehydration and exercise on the acid‐base balance in camels. The effect of dehydration and exercise on acid‐base balance was investigated using five (2‐years old) male dromedary camels. The camels were dehydrated for 7 days or exercised for 2 hours at 6km/h. Respiratory rate and blood gases were determined immediately before, immediately after and during the first 48 hours after rehydration and exercise. Despite that dehydration and exercise induced (P<0.05) elevation of respiration rate, blood pH did not affected significantly (P≥0.05) by dehydration or exercise. Never the less, pCO2, tCO2, HCO3 and BE were increased (P<0.05) as influenced by dehydration and exercise. Forty eight hours post rehydration or exercise approved sufficient (P≥0.05) to retain the blood acid‐base parameters to their pre‐dehydration or exercise levels. This study demonstrates that blood pH remains within the normal range in dehydrated and /or exercised camels. However, the primary challenge to dehydrated or exercised camels is the mild respiratory alkalosis that was induced by reduction of blood pCO2 which in turn a result of an accelerated respiratory rate. We acknowledged the financial support of this project by King Abdul‐Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia under the grant SGP‐14‐14.