Summary A group of 25 mature female Sprague-Dawley-Rolfsmeyer rats weighing a mean of 223 g consumed a mean of 5.88 g/100 g bw of Purina Lab Chow daily during a 2-week control period. When alloxan was injected intraperitoneally at a level of 15 mg/100 g bw to induce chronic diabetes, feed consumption declined to a level 67% below the control period, then began to increase. Eight rats died during the first week following treatment. The 17 surviving rats increased feed consumption 36% during the 7th to 12th days and 56% during the 13th to 18th days. These data show that induction of chronic diabetes by alloxan increases feed consumption by over 50%.