What are the nutritional requirements of commonly used laboratory animals?

  Since China's laboratory zoology started late, most of the nutritional requirements of various laboratory animals are based on foreign research data. The following is a brief introduction to the nutritional requirements of commonly used laboratory animals.

  (1) The characteristics of the nutritional requirements of rats

  Rats are omnivorous animals, sensitive to malnutrition, and are excellent models for studying nutrition. For rats, the crude protein content in the diet is 18% or higher, the growth and reproduction diet is 20% or higher, and the crude fat content is 4% or higher. Special attention must be paid to ensure that the content of essential fatty acids in the feed accounts for 1.3% of the total energy. Among them, linoleic acid must be higher than 0.3% in the diet and can be converted into arachidonic acid in rats. Arachidonic acid is the main essential fatty acid of cell membrane and an important precursor of prostaglandin. Normally, rats do not need vitamin K supplementation, but need vitamin A supplementation. Rats have a high resistance to calcium and phosphorus deficiency, but require more magnesium, especially during pregnancy and lactation. Adding 60 x 10 -6 kg vitamin E per kg feed can increase the fertility rate of rats. Sterile rats should also pay attention to supplementing vitamin B12,

  (2) The nutritional requirements of mice

  The crude protein content in the diet of

  mice is ≥18%, the growth and reproduction diet is ≥20%, and the crude fat content is ≥4%. The nutritional content should be relatively stable, and changes in feed formulation and dosage form should be recorded as the main issue. Generally speaking, mice prefer a high-sugar diet, especially linoleic acid in the diet. Breeding mice prefer a high-fat, high-energy diet. Rats have a wide range of calcium requirements, higher requirements for vitamins A and D, but at the same time they are sensitive to excess vitamin A. Excessive vitamin A can cause mouse reproductive system diseases and embryonic malformations. Sterile mice also need to pay attention to vitamin K supplementation. In addition, C57BL/6 mice require a high-protein diet, while DBA mice require a high-protein, low-fat diet.

  (3) Nutritional requirements of hamsters

  Hamster’s dietary requirements are very high, especially for protein and vitamins. Its crude protein content is 20% or higher, and the growth and reproduction feed content is 22% or higher. If protein cannot meet its nutritional requirements, the sexual function of adult hamsters will decline, and the growth and development of young mice will slow down. Hamsters can efficiently use non-protein nitrogen and can store up to 71% of urea nitrogen in their diet.

  (4) Nutritional requirements of guinea pigs Guinea pigs are herbivores and have a high digestibility of crude fiber, which can reach a digestibility of 33% to 38%. Generally, the diet should contain 10%-15% crude fiber. Guinea pigs have insufficient crude fiber content, which may cause difficulty in defecation and hair loss. Guinea pigs have higher requirements for certain essential amino acids, especially arginine. If the demand for unsaturated fatty acids in the diet is excessive or insufficient, guinea pigs may also cause growth retardation, hair loss, dermatitis and microcellular anemia. In addition, guinea pigs cannot synthesize vitamin C. Half of the vitamin C stored in the body was consumed in 4 days. That is, its half-life is 4 days. Deficiency can cause scurvy, paralysis of hind limbs, impaired reproductive function, and even death. Therefore, we must pay attention to supplementing vitamin C in guinea pig feed. The maintenance feed is 1500 mg, and the growth and reproduction diet is 1800 mg per kg of feed.

  (5) Nutritional needs of rabbits

  Rabbit is a herbivore. It has been proved that rabbits can digest 65% to 78% of the crude fiber of digestible plants. Therefore, the rabbit’s diet should contain a certain amount of crude fiber to maintain normal digestion and physiology, but usually the diet should contain 10% to 15% of crude fiber. Feeding a low-fiber diet can cause digestive problems in rabbits and may cause diarrhea, bloating and even death. Healthy rabbits have the characteristics of eating feces and have normal physiological behaviors. Rabbits excrete hard feces during the day and soft feces at night. Once the feces are excreted, they will be eaten by the rabbits. Experimental studies have shown that loose stools contain more crude protein and water-soluble vitamins than ordinary stools. This is because the intestinal microbes of rabbits can synthesize vitamin K and most B vitamins, but they need to supplement vitamin K during reproduction. Sterile rabbits should pay attention to supplement all vitamins and reduce the crude fiber content in the feed. Arginine is the first limiting amino acid in rabbits and is especially important for rabbits. In addition, rabbits have a high resistance to calcium.

  (6) The nutritional requirements of dogs

  Dogs are omnivores, and their feed requires a certain amount of animal fat and protein to improve palatability and provide energy. Dogs can tolerate a high-fat diet, and their diet must contain a certain amount of unsaturated fatty acids. Dogs need more vitamin A and vitamin B12, and dogs cannot use raw starch effectively. The crude protein content in the maintenance diet is ≥20%, and the crude fat content is ≥4.5%; in the growth and feeding diet, the crude protein white is ≥26%, and the crude fat ≥7.5%.

  (7)Features of cats’ nutritional requirements

  cats, especially newborn kittens, have a high demand for dietary fat. Adult cats also have requirements for the quantity, quality and linoleic acid content of dietary protein. Should be higher than 1%. Cats cannot use β-carotene as a source of vitamin A, so vitamin A must be supplemented in their diet. Cats also lack a catalytic enzyme that produces β-ephedrine from linoleic acid, and cannot synthesize nicotinic acid from cysteine or tryptophan to synthesize taurine, so these substances can be found in food. Must be taken. Cats, like dogs, eat ungelatinized starch. This can cause diarrhea. (8) The nutritional requirements of non-human primate laboratory animals

  More than 50% of the dietary energy of non-human primate experimental animals comes from glucose metabolism. Remember, vitamin C cannot be synthesized by the human body. We provide distribution to prevent shortages. For example, vitamin C deficiency can cause visceral hypertrophy, bleeding and dysfunction in monkeys. At the same time, pay attention to your palatability.

  (9) For the characteristics of the nutritional requirements of experimental pigs and chickens, please refer to animal nutrition data.