Insufficient milk supply in a giraffe???

[momma2libby]

So I am over here at my mom's reading her weekly copy of the National Enquirer : and there is an article about some family in South Africa who adopted a giraffe because he was "taken from his mom as a baby because she couldn't produce enough milk for him".

I obviously do not believe everything I read in the Enquirer but...have any of you heard of an animal actually having IMS?

[nevaehsmommy]

Our cat had four litters of kittens before any of them lived. The first were horribly skinny, and only lived a couple days. The next two times they lived for about a week still rather thin. The last litter was thin but did live and ate kitty food quite well. She was very attentive towards them and seemed to mourn...

[purple_kangaroo]

Originally Posted by momma2libby

So I am over here at my mom's reading her weekly copy of the National Enquirer : and there is an article about some family in South Africa who adopted a giraffe because he was "taken from his mom as a baby because she couldn't produce enough milk for him".

I obviously do not believe everything I read in the Enquirer but...have any of you heard of an animal actually having IMS?

Yes, in some types of animals it's rather common for them to have more babies than they can feed. And, from what I've read, some types of animals tend to have problems with insufficient milk supply more than others.

[sapphire_chan]

Nutritional deficiency? I wonder if giraffes need extra zinc or something to lactate properly. I bet the foliage in the area's changed over time, possibly a less diverse amount of plants at heights suitable for giraffes and such.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by purple_kangaroo

Yes, in some types of animals it's rather common for them to have more babies than they can feed.

Isn't that more a nipple supply thing than a milk supply though?

[MarcyC]

Our cat had a few litters, as well, before any of them actually survived. The vet said that some animals truly don't produce enough milk and said it could be attributed to the physical and mental make-up of the cat. In our cat's case, mama cat was hunter. She loved to hunt and kill. She was not content sitting around nursing her babies. She was up and doing. The vet also said that animals, just like humans, can experience post partum depression.

[goodheartedmama]

I've seen some on that animal planet show "Growing up..." that have had IMS.

[Equuskia]

Sure, animals can have insufficient milk supply just like humans, and probably occurs at about the same rate (~1-3%). Obviously it doesn't occur often, else the species would die out, but defects obviously happen in nature, and some females simply cannot produce enough milk. It is definitely the exception (barring human intervention.)

[JessasMilkMama]

I was just reading a book to the kids, The Little Lamb, one of those picture books (http://imshopping.rediff.com/books/i...0394865952.jpg but with the lamb) and it said "Timothy [the lamb] had a twin brother. His mom did not have enough milk for both of them...Emmy bottlefed the lamb" which I thought was interesting. Who knows if she really DIDNT?