Artificial Feeding of Neonatal Rats

Newborn rats, fed either cow's milk or rat's milk by tube, developed a "bloat" and the time required for emptying the stomach increased. When these animals were allowed to suckle on nonlactating foster mothers, no evidence of this syndrome was observed. Based on these observations, a technique was developed for the artificial feeding of newborn rats. When the diet was rat's milk, growth equivalent to that of animals fed solely by lactating females was obtained. A diet of cow's milk did not support adequate growth.