. ▁Bre ast feed ing ▁animals ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁pract ised , ▁whether ▁for ▁health ▁reasons   – ▁such ▁as ▁to ▁t ough en ▁the ▁ni pp les ▁and ▁improve ▁the ▁flow ▁of ▁milk   – ▁or ▁for ▁religious ▁and ▁cultural ▁purposes . ▁A ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁animals ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁for ▁this ▁purpose , ▁including ▁pu pp ies , ▁k itt ens , ▁p ig lets ▁and ▁mon keys . ▁ ▁Su ck ling ▁of ▁animals ▁by ▁humans ▁Ter rac otta ▁feed ing ▁bott les ▁surv iving ▁from ▁the ▁third ▁mill en ni um ▁BC ▁in ▁S umer ia ▁indicate ▁that ▁children ▁who ▁were ▁not ▁being ▁breast f ed ▁were ▁receiving ▁animal ▁milk , ▁probably ▁from ▁c ows . ▁It ▁is ▁possible ▁that ▁some ▁inf ants ▁directly ▁su ck led ▁la ct ating ▁animals , ▁which ▁served ▁as ▁alternatives ▁to ▁wet ▁n urs es . ▁Unless ▁another ▁la ct ating ▁woman ▁was ▁available , ▁a ▁mother ▁who ▁lack ed ▁enough ▁breast ▁milk ▁was ▁likely ▁to ▁lose ▁her ▁child . ▁To ▁a vert ▁that ▁possibility ▁if ▁a ▁wet ▁nur se ▁was ▁not ▁available , ▁an ▁animal ▁such ▁as ▁a ▁don key , ▁cow , ▁go at , ▁sheep ▁or ▁dog ▁could ▁be ▁employed . ▁Su ck ling ▁directly ▁was ▁prefer able ▁to ▁mil king ▁an ▁animal ▁and ▁giving ▁the ▁milk , ▁as ▁cont am ination ▁by ▁micro bes ▁during ▁the ▁mil king ▁process ▁could ▁lead ▁to ▁the ▁infant ▁contract ing ▁a ▁dead ly ▁di arr he al ▁disease . ▁It ▁was ▁not ▁until