Fruit and vegetables Vs Rat food study

Kaitlyn Fleming, Stephanie Rogers, 6, February, 2014, Rat Food Study

Abstract
The amount of food a rat consumes will depend on its health and lifestyle. Three rats
were tested with different amounts of fruits and vegetables. Then their behavior along with
physiological affects were observed. The study first started out by getting littermates of three
male juvenile rats, so that weight differences could be measured. The three rats were
separated by putting them in three different cages. A cage card was placed on each cage and
since the rats already had been tagged, the rats all had their own numbers as well. Cage 1 is
male # 255, cage 2 is male # 256, and then cage 3 is male # 257. Cage 1 with rat #255 would
receive only regular rat food daily, Cage 2 with rat# 256 would receive regular rat food but also
receive fruit and vegetables daily, and Cage 3 with rat #257 would just receive fruit and
vegetables daily. The differences in weights and behavior would be observed. The main idea of
this research project is to discover the rats that will change the most and the rat that will
change the least, and to discover if other changes happen during the research project.











Introduction
The first step is the research on what food was good for rats and what food might lead
to their obesity. In my research, I found out that obesity in female rats could pass down
problems with the brains of the offspring (Brain Dis, 2013), and that maternal obesity induced
by a high fat diet causes altered cellular development in fetal brains suggestive of a
predisposition of offspring to neurological disorders in later life. As far as the food research, it is
found in a study that corn can cause tumors in rats (Ryan Jaslow, 2013), and is relevant because
the study involves specific foods. In this article, a food study found that corn puts a huge risk of
tumors in rats, where some of the tumors were as big as the rats bodies (Ryan Jaslow, 2013).
Seventy percent of the females died from eating the corn diet and thirty percent of males died
from the corn diet (Ryan Jaslow, 2013). Large mammary tumors developed in female rats at
about four months in the two years of the study, observing that some of the tumors were so
large they blocked organ function (Ryan Jaslow, 2013).
This experiment is to see if there is a difference in behavior or physiologically. The
different foods could affect them and what cause these foods bring to the rat are extremely
important. Are the rats diets affected by how much water they drink? Is there a difference in
weight? Did one stay at a constant weight barely changing? This experiment is interesting for
the future for veterinarians because part of being a veterinarian is understanding animals
nutrition, eating habits, feces, weight flexuations, and observing an animals behavior. As a
veterinary technologist, one will have to be able to assist a veterinarian with all observations
and problem solving for any problems found in animals. This project would be a good start to
look at the animals with numerous observations, and looking at different health problems in
rats. This experiment should show rat #255 will weigh the most because it is the only rat that
just receives regular rat food. Rat# 256 will stay at a constant weight because it is getting a
small amount of fruit and vegetables along with also getting regular rat food. Finally, rat #257
will weigh the least due to only getting fruit and vegetables. For the experiment, it will show
the changes in behavior, weight, feces samples, appetite, and the rats appearances. The time
frame for this study is about two weeks.
Materials
Three male rats from the same litter
Scale (g 600 max)
Fruit (apples, blackberries, blueberries)
Vegetables (carrots, celery, cucumber)
Rat food (Mazuri 6F)
Cages (scientific lab cages non wire bottoms)
Paper
Pencil/pens
Gloves
Glasses
Lab coat
Cage cards

Methods
1) First separate all three rats in different cages and get their weights before you start the
experiment.
2) Record rats weights daily for a week and double check to make sure rats one, two, and
three are all males and make sure cages are labeled regular rat food only, both fruit and
vegetable and regular rat food, and a cage labeled just fruit and vegetables.
3) When you weigh rats, first put the rat #1 with the less weight into the cage with just rat
food.
4) Rat #2, which weighs the most before you start, put in the cage with just fruit and
vegetables.
5) The rat #3 closest to the regular male rat weight goes into the cage with both food and
fruits and vegetables.
6) Rat #1 gets just pellets daily, Rat #2 receives both pellets and fruits and vegetables daily,
Rat #3 just gets fruits and vegetables daily.
7) Each day record rats weights and determine which rat weighs less, which one weighs
more, which one is closer to the average weight of an adult male rat.
8) After the experiment, record all the rats weights and determine which weighs the most
and least and record them.
Results
In the next step, humane euthanasia will occur followed by necropsy where their blood
will be analyzed. At the time of necropsy, a visceral exam was performed to see if observations
of anything different were observed with their organs and tissues. The observations that were
found at the necropsy was rat #257 (Figure1, only fruit and vegetables) had less fat than rat #
255 and rat # 256. In this experiment, rat #256 received regular rat food and rat #257 got a
number of fruit and vegetables such as apples, carrots, celery, blackberries, blueberries,
cucumbers, along with regular rat food.
After the experiment, the data showed that rat #255, which was only eating regular rat food,
weighed the most (Table 1) while rat #257, eating just fruit and vegetables, weighed the least
(Table 1) and was extremely thin (Figure 1). Rat #256 was the rat that ate both fruit and
vegetables and regular rat food and kept a constant weight (Table 1, Figure 3, and 4). Also rat
#257 had a very colorful fecal samples because he only got fruit and vegetables and the fecal
sample was a direct correlation of what he ate (Figure 2). Rat #255 was the largest and the rat
that gained the most weight. He had normal blood analysis and at necropsy, had the most
adipose tissue (Figure 5 and 6). I did this experiment for eight days and rat #256 surprised me
the most because he was up and down all eight days. The fecal samples on rat #255 (figure 5)
and #256 (figure 3) looked normal as they did not have any color to them at all. The blood
analysis samples came out the most normal for rat #256. Rat #255 and rat #257 were shown to
be the most similar in blood results. The results also showed that rat #255 and rat #256 gained
the most weight. During the experiment, all three rats showed no difference in their behavior
as they were all healthy and happy when being observed.




Figure 1. Rat #257 received a diet of only fruit and vegetables.

Figure 2. Fecal sample from rat #257.


Figure 3. Fecal sample from rat # 256.



Figure 4. Rat # 256 received diet of regular rat food, and fruits, and vegetables.


Figure 5. Fecal sample from rat #255.


Figure 6. Rat #255 received a, diet of regular rat food pellets.
Conclusion
The hypothesis was correct with rat # 255 weighing the most, rat # 257 weighing the
least, and rat # 256 maintaining a constant weight due to a small fluctuation of his weight. Rat#
256 was observed with how much healthy foods he ate or how much regular rat food he ate
just like humans. These results show a correlation with humans that depending on our choices
we make with our eating habits, it will show if we gain, lose weight, or stay at a constant
weight. I believe my experiment can also help with people and their nutrition. Involving rat
nutrition will be helpful for when I become a veterinarian in the future.

Number of days
observed
1
Rat#255 weights

301.6 grams
Rat#256 weights

282.6 grams
Rat#257 weights

277.0 grams
2 301.8 grams 291.4 grams 278.0 grams
3 310.8 grams 289.9 grams 264.9 grams
4 331.4 grams 320.2 grams 352.3 grams
5 337.4 grams 326.0 grams 246.5 grams
6 336.6 grams 333.5 grams 246.9 grams
7 341.9 grams 332.6 grams 245.5 grams
8 360.0 grams 348.2 grams 242.4 grams
Table 1, daily weights for each rat.









Work Cited


Jaslow , Ryan. "Journal Retracts Genetically Modified Corn Study That Found Tumor Risk in
Rats." CBS News. (2013): n. page. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <www.cbsnews.com/news/journal-
retraction-genetically-modified-corn-tumor-rats-study/>
Dis, Brain. "Maternal Obesity Induced by a High Fat Causes Altered Cellular Development in
Fetal Brains Suggestive of a Predispositon of Offspring to Neurological Disorder in Later Life."
Pubmed . (2013): n. page. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <www.ncbi.nlm.gov/pubmed/24043845