Excretion of Potassium

Abstract

Dogs fed normal laboratory diets of meat and biscuits excrete 18–25 mmol K per day (Chapter 17), an average of about 15 μmol/min. In the control experiments of Baylis and O’Connor (1976a, b) K excretion was recorded with dogs at rest, 16 hours after their meal. In 67 observations on 4 bitches in this basal state, the mean rate of excretion was 8 μmol/min, SD ± 5; there was always some K in the urine. After a meal of 10 g meat per kg, O’Connor and Summerill (1976c) found K excretion increased to about 35 μmol/min. After running, O’Connor (unpublished) has found K excretion increased to about 35 μmol/min. For the purposes of this chapter the ‘normal’ range of K excretion in dogs is therefore up to 50 μmol/min.