# protein in the diet



## LisaLQ (Oct 14, 2007)

Please note that you should not feed extra protein to pregnant rats, just those who are nursing. Overfeeding too much protein when pregnant can cause babies to get too big and stick in the birth canal.

Only nursing mums need extra food to help produce plenty of milk and keep her energy up. Pregnant mums just need their regular diet.

Edited to add: there is one exception and that is in accidental pregnancies in very young mums eg kittens themselves.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

This is not entirely true - it depends on the rats in question and the diet they are fed. Some rats WILL need extra food. Pregnancy is hard on the body, and takes resources away from other functions. A rat that is full grown will not as much energy for growth, but it will need energy for maintenance (including immune system health). A rat who is pregnant needs to divide its energy resources between the pregnancy and its own maintenance. In many cases, this does mean a little extra is required.

Also important to note - 

This forum does not encourage purposeful breeding. Keeping that in mind, the litters in question that will be posted on this forum are accidental. Many times it is a young mother. Posting a general message saying the rats in question don't need extra food is potentially very dangerous. Diet is not a "one size fits all" in these situations, and should be treated on a case-by-case basis.


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## LisaLQ (Oct 14, 2007)

In which case, surely the diet information should be changed from its "one size fits all" message which could be incredibly dangerous for most average sized rats?

Of course making babies means they need more food, it's the content of the food that's in question here. Too much protein will make for larger babies that get stuck in the birth canal. Plenty of a regular diet will be enough for most rats, unless they are babies (which I did state in my original post).

I'd hate to see someone have to put their rat through a spay or (more possible) lose a rat due to a baby stuck in the birth canal based on poor advice on a forum.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

LisaLQ said:


> In which case, surely the diet information should be changed from its "one size fits all" message which could be incredibly dangerous for most average sized rats?
> 
> Of course making babies means they need more food, it's the content of the food that's in question here. Too much protein will make for larger babies that get stuck in the birth canal. Plenty of a regular diet will be enough for most rats, unless they are babies (which I did state in my original post).
> 
> I'd hate to see someone have to put their rat through a spay or (more possible) lose a rat due to a baby stuck in the birth canal based on poor advice on a forum.


Actually, the mother's body limits the size of the babies. The biggest issues come in when a mother rat is too fat. 

Protein is an important building block for the body. The developing fetus gets all of its raw material from its mother, it is not eating like a living being. In order to grow properly, the fetus needs the RIGHT building material, this includes proteins. Proteins are important not only for growth, but for amino acid and enzyme production. A maintenance diet is not sufficient, feeding more of the maintenance diet is not sufficient. The mother rat DOES need additional nutrition to sustain her body AND the growing fetuses inside of her. This isn't old wives tales, this is biochemistry and biology.

A typical maintenance diet for adult rats is higher in carbs than protein. Additional protien IS needed to sustain a mother rat and her growing fetuses. In addition, calories are needed, extra vitamins, calcium, and other nutrients. These nutrients aren't just going to maintaining the mother's body and her growing fetuses, but also to milk production, which starts BEFORE the babies are born. Inadequate nutrition can cause malformation of the babies as well as miscarriage in extreme cases. If there is not adequate nutrition to start milk production, the mother may be unable to feed her babies, and they may be weak, fail to thrive, and/or die young. 

A healthy, well fed, full grown rat may not need a lot of extra nutrition to maintain normal body function and a healthy pregnancy, but some is needed. Again, this isn't old wives tales, this is biochemistry and biology.


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