Cats can't drink milk myth

I think, like people, some have more trouble digesting milk than others. I've never heard of any long term effect.

welcome and is there something extra in this coffee or did your avatar just stick its tongue out at me?

Most cats cannot digest or tolerate lactose, the sugar found in cow's milk. Like a human reaction, lactose intolerance can cause serious digestive upset and diarrhoea. This can be debilitating to an elderly feline. Cats must also develop a taste for cow's milk - some take to it with no side effects...some do not. Also, cat's milk has three times as much protein as cow's milk so when fostering a small kitten it is essential that they get a balanced diet with enough fat and protein or they will starve.

In the end (no pun intended!) it is best to avoid the temptation of the bowl of milk as a treat

If your cat tolerates it, then there should be no long term effects as long as the cat gets enough meat based protein in their diet (and water, too.) - enough arginine and taurine.
You should never supplement your cat's diet with extra vitamins and minerals without consulting your veterinarian first.


Thank you, and that will be $50 for the consult

Dunno about milk, but whatever you don't feed them liver, it causes spinal problems.

I dunno 'bout you, but after a day of preening in the sun & licking myself clean, a saucer of warm milk is just the ticket before a loooong snooze on my favorite blanket....

My cat drinks milk and eats yogurt. She hasn't died or anything.

I've always found that an adult cat drinking milk will end up shitting everywhere. Which is nice.

We spent a small fortune trying to find out what was wrong with one of our cats - turned out one of our neighbours was giving him milk.

We were not happy.

Folks - even if you feed your own cat milk, don't put it down for other cats in your neighbourhood.

Cath said:

We spent a small fortune trying to find out what was wrong with one of our cats - turned out one of our neighbours was giving him milk.

We were not happy.

Folks - even if you feed your own cat milk, don't put it down for other cats in your neighbourhood.

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I'm so glad you said something. Here in Germany, our neighbor's lab was becoming deathly ill. Turns out, he'd had that emergency surgery done to save his life because something about the stomach twisting and in minutes the intestines turn black--dying. He barely survived it. Anyway, here comes some do-gooder dolt deciding cute pooch needs treats every day they walked by...meats, chew snacks....never realizing the dog was on a special diet where all foods had to be pureed (sp?) or he'd die.

I've a soft heart for animals...too much for my own good. But you don't just go feeding someone's animal and not know any of their medical history. Good intentions nearly killed the animal. Now...don't start on the strays, I know you can't help but feel you're doing the best for a stray..I'm talking behind a rod iron gate..someone's definite pet.

My husband's family has a ranch deep in South Texas...

Cats keep rodents down. This is good, because it saves livestock feed and keeps the area from being attractive to snakes, coyotes, and other predators. My in-laws are willing to invest quite a lot into good cats. So at times, there's been around 20 cats there, all of them allowed indoors whenever they choose, and all fed a nice, balanced diet. They are given milk anytime the milk supply starts tasting a little off...and this means cow's milk as well as goat's milk, sometimes a lot of it. There has never been any problems. All the cats seem to love the milk, and none of them have ever seemed to have a negative reaction to it. It's possible that they got the runs and just spent extra time outdoors...but my own indoor cats don't seem to. I don't know, maybe they're just good at getting to the litter box on time. Either way, I'd say there is very little danger in giving your cat milk, so long as it doesn't have an unusual medical history.

My cousin, the Vet, says a bit of milk or cream isn't too bad as long as you don't mind cat farts. She also says cheese makes them fart worse than milk, so you should avoid giving cheese to your favorite indoor cat.

What? Too much information?

Jaycinth said:

My cousin, the Vet, says a bit of milk or cream isn't too bad as long as you don't mind cat farts. She also says cheese makes them fart worse than milk, so you should avoid giving cheese to your favorite indoor cat.

What? Too much information?

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Ah. That explains it. No more Cheese-its for tubs.

My husband gave Ridley one piece of cheese before I could stop him. Blecccch.
When my old cat Trixie was too sick to sit up and eat, we gave her a special cat milk supplement made by Whiskas. It was in a tetrapak container. We mixed it with canned cat food so she could slurp it up while lying down. She regained her strength and lived another five years. She passed away in the front yard at age fifteen.

I was a vet tech...if your cat can handle milk then whatever. BE AWARE, IT CAN CAUSE DEBILITATING POOP STORMS!!! Take cover...drinking milk won't kill your cat (unless he's ill or infirm), just make him uncomfortable because you want to give him a treat.
If your cat has never had milk before, why risk it?

hmmmpf.

Most cats are lactose intolerant. If your cat has handled milk with no excessive farting or loose stools, he's fine. It just gives 'em indigestion; it's not poisonous.

My cats have milk fromtime to time. They're sneaky, we dont activly give it to them. They're fine with it. I use cream cheese to give them medicene.

I am regularly lectured by "helpful" people about the things I am doing that will kill my pets. The only real rule is moderation, observation, common sense, and never give your gerbil a chainsaw.

veinglory said:

never give your gerbil a chainsaw.

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Oops, aw crap! I'll be back in a few.....

veinglory said:

The only real rule is moderation, observation, common sense, and never give your gerbil a chainsaw.

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Quite true. As nice as gerbils tend to be, they have no sense of landscaping. Giving a gerbil a chainsaw is like giving a bull poker lessons. Sure the bull will learn to play...but inthe end the bull will be...well...bullish, and give away his hand every time.

Therefore, gerbils are excellent painters. Some of the best marbelizing I've ever seenhas been done by Gerbils, whereas, if you want good landscaping, cheap, hire hamsters and certain varieties of squirrels.

Sheep can do it, but they are unimaginative, and your yard will look like the clone of all the other yards.

Oh, what was I going to post..

Oh, yes...

When my kids annoy me, I feed the cats cheese, then I put them in the specific child's room after said child is asleep. I close the door to encourage the kitty to stay. Around one am the house echos with the lovely sound...

"EEEEEWWWWW cat farts!!!!"
At times like those...I LOVE being a parent.

My dog has eaten more than his weight (not all at once, mind you) in chocolate and chicken bones. He once at an entire 7 pound ham. (He weighs 14).

Dogs and cats will eat and drink whatever, and devil-may-care the consequences. Oh that we might all be so free.

I had a woman yell at me in the street for giving my dog a little bit of chocolate croissant. The funniest bit was when my dog took offense at her tone and proximity and growled at her. Yes, large amounts of dark chocolate is bad for them, a little bit of chocolate icing not so much. None of these food groups are healthy for us and pure poison for them, it's a matter of degree.