Bloat in cattle. XVII. Wheat pasture bloat and its prevention with poloxalene.

In four controlled experiments, it was established that bloat occurring in rumen fistulated cattle pastured on wheat is a foamy type. Poloxalene effectively prevented foaming, and bloat scores of controls and those receiving poloxalene differed significantly. Though differences among daily treatments of 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 g of poloxalene per 100 lb (45.4 kg) body weight were nonsignificant, a dose-response relationship was suggested. A fifth experiment, conducted with 112 heifers pasturing wheat, indicated that a molasses liquid supplement containing poloxalene and a molasses-salt block containing poloxalene significantly reduced bloat incidence and severity during the periods they were offered. The bloat-provocative pastures contained 35.1 to 37.7% crude protein, 9.5 to 12.4% insoluble protein, 17.4 to 18.7% soluble protein, and 6.8 to 7.7% nonprotein nitrogen. (