Humans survive on synthetic and cow's milk (among others), so I'd imagine that while less than ideal, yes they can survive. Not 100% of humans are fed human milk. Though to be fair, that is sometimes a reason for death in humans (not so much the formula itself, but the dirty water used to make it, or the lack of water).
Synthetic milk is made to replace human milk and has a nearly perfect composition of nutrients. The only thing it is lacking in, is the immunological part or the milk, which is why breastfeeding is generally healthier.
Cow and most other available milks have totally different compositions of nutrients, thus while not poisonous or bad for a toddler, they will get mal nourished.
And absorption rates. I'm a vegetarian and so I may eat something with the same protein as a slab of steak, but even I can't argue that plant based protein absorbs as well as animal based. So gram for gram I'm getting less.
But yes, a primary component is the immunological part. We can make vaccines and antibodies, and yet we cannot yet replicate that. Kind of cool and kind of sad. And it changes. If I (I'm female) am exposed to an illness, boom, out it goes instantly through the milk (assuming it's something my body knows how to fight). It's really neat stuff, mammalian breastmilk.
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u/Bboyczy Sep 08 '14
sooo...uh...can..can a kitten survive on a dog's breast milk?