Acute rumen indigestion (grain overload / rumen acidosis) results from rapid fermentation of readily available carbohydrates by Streptococcus bovis and Lactobacillus spp., which produce excess d-lactate and l-lactate. Because mammalian tissues lack significant d-lactate dehydrogenase to metabolize d-lactate, its systemic accumulation leads to severe d-lactic acidosis.

Acetic acid ($ ext{CH}_3 ext{COOH}$, dilute vinegar) is administered to treat urea poisoning. It lowers rumen pH, shifting uncharged, easily absorbed toxic ammonia ($ ext{NH}_3$) into charged, impermeable ammonium ions ($\text{NH}_4^+$), thereby preventing fatal systemic hyperammonemia.

In GDV and severe circulatory shock, severe splanchnic hypoperfusion causes pancreatic ischemia. The ischemic and hypoxic pancreatic acinar cells release lysosomal hydrolases (zymogens) that cleave cellular proteins to form Myocardial Depressant Factor (MDF), which depresses cardiac contractility.