Rats and cheese?

[Bree]

In all the movies and all TV shows rats always eat cheese. I’ve also read that some people give their rats cheese, And lots of people don’t. Is it okay to give them cheese as a VERY special treat? Or not okay at all.

Also I see people giving their rats little baby food stars (I’ll include a picture) are those okay as treats?

 

[ViciousCurse]

Geber puffs are the most valued treat I've ever given my rats. My rats go nuts and will do anything for puffs. I use it a lot for bonding, name training, and trick training. Although, don't give them too many at once-- it'll cause diarrhea in rats. It's also a processed, fatty food. It's just junk food, but a great treat.

My rats VERY OCCASIONALLY get cheese. The China Study, as done by Dr. Campbell, stated that too much protein, especially animal-based proteins (such as dairy and eggs) can cause tumor growth. Cheese is also a fatty food and just not good for them in general. Personally, I'd say it's okay to give it to them very occasionally (I'm talking six months in between each cheese feeding), while some members would recommend completely against it.
This forum has a thread on the China Study: https://www.ratshackforum.com/threa...sive-study-of-nutrition-ever-conducted.36056/

 

[Dena]

Some people say rats are lactose intolerant. They are like people. Some are, some aren't. I'd just be careful with cheese, as it has a lot of salt in it. I give tiny pieces once in a while. But as far as the Gerber treats, they are VERY useful! Just break them up into smaller pieces. Mine break into at least 3-4 pieces. Give tiny pieces, or sprinkle some along with pumpkin seeds, and rolled oats into a foraging toy. They love them!

 

[SQ]

People feed all sorts of unhealthy things to their rats.
Neither of those are healthy for rats

Dairy is extremely unhealthy for rats.

Gerber puffs are not organic. They likely contain GMOs and pesticides.
Gerber puffs contain added sugar etc so are not healthy.
Sugar feeds cancer.
They are also made by Nestle, an unethical company that is killing people and stealing water around the world, depleting ground water reserves, destroying the environment, and killing animals - in case that matters to you.

I feed organic kumut puffs (a cereal) to my rats as treats - but usually their treats are healthy foods such as berries, a piece of fruit, organic pumpkin seeds, cooked grains, etc
Kumut puffs are non GMO and do not have any additives, preservatives, etc​

Please see info on the Reference Thread re diet, nutrition, etc https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/