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The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Abstract

A milk substitute developed in 1988 (OM) has been used to feed giant panda cubs, but its contents do not match those of panda breast milk. OM contains 10% more protein than the breast milk, and so a novel milk substitute (NM) was developed based on breast milk data. NM has the following nutrition: protein, 38%; fat, 40%; carbohydrates, 12% (containing lactose, 7%); ash, 6%; and moisture, 3%; and it also contains lactoferrin, nucleotides, oligosaccharides and docosahexaenoic acid. In order to ensure that NM is safe before it is fed to premature newborns, a plan was made to subject twin cubs (Kaihin and Youhin, around one year old) to the first feeding test of NM. Here, a crossover feeding test of OM mixture (OMM) and NM-containing mixture (NMM) is described. Kaihin and Youhin were fed 800-1300 ml/d NMM and OMM, respectively, combined with 200 ml/d breast milk for 280-380 days after birth. Then, they were fed 1370-1570 ml/d OMM and NMM, respectively, without breast milk for the next 100 days. Both cubs exhibited constant growth of 90 g/day throughout the test, which is comparable with the growth of previous panda cubs (including twins). Moreover, no NMM-associated safety concerns were observed. Feces were excreted every 3-5 d during milk feeding, whereas they were excreted several times a day when bamboo was consumed. It could be concluded that NM can be fed safely to newborn panda cubs.

Publisher

Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University

First Page

103

Last Page

109

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