HELP! how should i persuade this reviewer?

How would you differentiate the basal control group from the actual control group? I also need to understand the work a bit more before I can give you my suggestions.

Purpose To investigate the effect of cod bone gelatin on bone metabolism in tailsuspended
rats, studies were carried out focusing on bone quality and the molecular
mechanisms.
Methods Female 8-week-old control and tail-suspended Sprague Dawley rats were
randomly assigned to 5 groups (12 rats/group) and treated with cod bone gelatin (1.50,
3.00, 6.00 g/kg body weight). Bone mass was assessed by dual-energy X-ray
absorptiometry (DXA) and bone microarchitecture by microcomputed tomography
(μCT). Bone turnover markers were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Finite
element analysis was conducted by using Ansys 11.0.
Results After 21 days, results showed that rats fed with 3.00 g/kg cod bone gelatin had
higher (P < 0.05) BMD of proximal tibias and femoral neck. The lower maximum
compressive principal stress and Von Mises equivalent stress of volume of interest (P
< 0.05) was associated with improved bone microarchitecture in the 3.00 g/kg group.
Rats treated with of 3.00 g/kg cod bone gelatin exhibited lower urine NTX, DPD, serum
IL-1β and serum IL-6. Real-time PCR showed the RANKL/OPG mRNA ratio in the 3
g/kg and 6 g/kg group significantly decreased compared to the TS group(P<0.05).
Conclusions The results suggest that cod bone gelatin treatment may have a
preventive effect on bone loss in tail-suspended rats.

Lost me there. Why would you mix the two groups together? That is, the control group mixed with the experimental group. Why didn't you keep the controls in a separate group?

What did you end up doing, glory123?