Vet 101: Cats and The Milk Myth
Cats drinking milk. What could be natural, right? Not if it’s from a cow. It’s hard for old myths to die down when brilliant advertising like the hysterically funny commercial for a milk company are pop culture phenoms. If you aren’t one of the 7 million who haven’t seen the YouTube video, have a chuckle. The truth about cats drinking milk is no laughing matter when it causes health issues. Our Vet, Dr. Rich Goldstein dispels the milk myth.
Domino has been known to sneak into my cereal bowl but only for a lap or two.
Vet 101 Reader question:
I’ve heard it’s no good giving cats milk but mine like it (organic low fat) and have no digestive problems. Is it ok? What about other dairy like butter, yogurt, cheese? or other milk like coconut milk or almond milk?
Dr. G. One of the first commandments that veterinarians learn in vet school is “above all else, do no harm.” So, in the big scheme, is it doing your cats harm to give them milk? Short answer: if it’s not causing any digestive problems, then you’re probably not doing any harm. But let’s take a look at why milk might not be a good idea for some cats.
The digestive system is an ever-changing environment, subject to adapting to the whims of our brains deciding what we’d like to eat. The enzymes found in the digestive tract will change, depending on the protein, fat, and carbohydrate content of our food. But those changes take time. During the nursing period, animals have a lot of lactase enzymes to digest the lactose sugar found in milk. Once animals are weaned, those lactase enzymes go away because they’re not needed. If you then give that animal milk, they may develop diarrhea because there are no enzymes there to digest it – hence, they become lactose-intolerant. Eventually, the body may respond by producing some more lactase. In the case of your cats, since you’re regularly giving milk, their bodies are maintaining some lactase enzymes, and not experiencing any GI problems.
This same principle is important when considering diet changes in cats. Do it gradually, in order to give those digestive enzymes a chance to catch up with the new nutrients on the block. Even changing brands, or from dry to canned food, can be enough to cause vomiting or diarrhea if done too rapidly.
As for feeding dairy products to cats, it all comes down to the principles of nutrition: cats are carnivores. Just like you’ve never seen a cat jump into the lake to catch a fish for lunch, you won’t see them milking a cow for something to drink. It’s like McDonald’s: we know we shouldn’t eat it, but we do! Dairy products, while having protein and fat (which are good for cats), also have a lot of carbohydrates and sugars (which are not good for cats). Dairy can also be high in calcium – too much of which can also cause problems.
So why do cats like milk? Theoretically, cats do not possess the taste buds that detect “sweets.” Is there something else in milk that attracts them? Do the “sweets” stimulate another sense in cats? My cat won’t say. I suppose it’s yet another aspect of our feline friends that just keeps up their mysterious allure!
Have a question for our Vet, Dr. Rich Goldstein (Dr. G.)? Kindly sent it to [email protected]
Editors note: Re: Feeding cats almond or coconut milk. Since cats carnivores, I wouldn’t feed any of the nut milks. Some cats are sensitive to nuts and the oils in coconut milk can have laxative effect. Gris Gris likes unsweetened coconut milk as an occasional treat, and he loves butter and unsweetened Greek yogurt but again just a dollop.
What has been your experience with cats and milk?
31 Comments
fake hermes bracelet sale
cum se face un cd live cu eset smart securiry 4 in windows sp3 sp2
fake hermes bracelet sale http://www.hbbag.ru/
fortnite cheat
I simply must tell you that you have an excellent and unique site that I must say enjoyed reading.
how do i grow my facebook group
i dont know how you keep up with a blog i really want to start one of my own just seems like hard work how do i grow my facebook group
how do i grow my facebook group
i dont know how you keep up with a blog i really want to start one of my own just seems like hard work how do i grow my facebook group
seo plugin
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. Seo Plugin
human hair weave
convention agile puis sans problème; human hair weave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koiFnDsfNPU conforme à la reproduction
DPNY
I have been giving my older female calico a bit of 2% milk ’cause she LOVES it. I am stopping that right now after she puked on a freshly laundered bed!! However, since someone mentioned in one of these posts that cheese seems to sit well with their feline friend, I will substitute a pinch of shredded mozzarella instead (will see how that goes). I already have a large male angora who LOVES mozz and it seems to sit well with him (would like to add that this cat seems to have no digestive issues with it). Anyone know if cat milk would alleviate puking & diarrhea? Will keep posted on results of mozz on my calico!
Layla Morgan Wilde
You’d be better trying a tsp. of plain yogurt.
Texas, a cat in... Austin
What about lactose-free milk? We do not like milk much at home (Grouik loved it though but the humans only gave him some as a treat, and it was rare). The humans are using some lactose-free milk from time to time. Humans are not really supposed to get milk beyond human kittenhood either. My human is using some nuts milks too.
Me I LOVE yogurt and my human used to give me some from time to time. My favorite in France was Activia but she cannot find plain Activia yogurt here (only with fruits and added stuff) so I don’t get any anymore 🙁
Carolyn
That was informative! I knew cats probably shouldn’t have milk, but didn’t know why. Austin has never had milk since he’s been with me and even once when I bought him some special cat milk, he wouldn’t drink it!!
nadbugs
Spote? SPOTE? What IS that! (“Spot.”) Sheez.
nadbugs
Oh yes. That video? Hysterical! Every time I watch it I spote another little detail that makes me laugh. This time is was the nail-file. Totally brilliant. The best.
nadbugs
I got into the habit of letting Bugsy lick my cereal bowl after I was done — absolutely NO MILK (ewwwww) but a little Greek yoghurt — but then he started getting so susceptible to pukies, I quit that. Thanks so much, as ever, for Dr. G. The info is so valuable. I will be pondering those digestive enzymes. Slowly slowly for changes! PS: Love the new format and that picture of you I’m looking at, down there by your “About,” is the coolio coolest. Lovely!
Layla Morgan Wilde
So glad to see you back! Thanks for the compliment. It feels like I’ve had the new website forever 🙂
Kitties Blue
We never get milk. Occasionally we might steal a little from our dad’s cereal bowl. Our mom is lactose intolerant and doesn’t even like milk so eats her cereal dry. On a very rare occasion, we might get an itty bitty taste of yoghurt. Mom has read about some milk product that is just for cats. Do you know anything about it? Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Andrea
If my cats manage to swipe some milk they usually vomit after. They do fine with cheese though. Must be something in the aging process.
Cathy Keisha
Of course since milk is liquid, I won’t go near it. TW used to give Nicky a little lactose-free milk a couple of times a week. Re coconut oil: I heard it was good for cats.
Oui Oui
All the kitties here love diary in any form – milk, butter, sour cream, yogurt, cheese and ice cream. They only get a small bit at a time. But only Julie will drink almond milk.
Katie and Cocco
This was a great article. We didn’t know too much about cats and milk and one of our cats loves milk (and so did Taysur) but it is always in moderation. Thanks for sharing!
Skeeter and Izzy
We don’t do milk here but cheese,now thats another story! My guys love cheese and they get a couple strings of shredded cheddar once in a while as the ultimate treat!
P.S. they know the word cheese and how to spell it too.
Luvs Skeeter and Izzy and the Feral Gang + Peanut and Twig and Romeo >*..&<
Layla Morgan Wilde
We confess to having two cheese hounds here.
Angel Abby
No milk drinkers in our house!
meowmeowmans
Moosey BEGS for things like yogurt and ice cream, but we’ll give him one fingertip’s worth (if that), and only once in awhile. Angel Graphite was the same way. All the cats seem to like “cat milk,” and we give that to them every now and again as a treat. 🙂
easy rider
It was common, that the cats got milk when my grampy finished the milking in the morning. I had no clue, that cat=milk is a myth too (like so much things about pets). Thanks for this post, I’ve learnt something :o)
da tabbies o trout towne
we get catsip on rare oh cassionz…de foods serviss peepulz will knot let uz have a lot oh dairee coz it can leed two heebeez jeebeez in de lungz
Crepes
We always use goat milk here and that seems to work out great! We usually get the raw stuff. My FODs drink almond and flax milk here, no real dairy, but we never have almond milk. Aren’t almonds poisonous to cats? We thought so, or maybe all nuts are bad in some way, so we avoid that stuff. We get our goat milk frozen (raw) or powdered to keep on hand. – Crepes.
Layla Morgan Wilde
Goat milk is much easier to digest. Almonds are not toxic to cats.
Ms. Phoebe
My dear Crepes let Mom in on the benefit of goat’s milk for kitties with respiratory issues, so every night I get a few teaspoons of goat’s milk as my treat. It has helped become a noticible help with my asthma treatment. I now know the sight of the carton so well that I chase Mom to my placemat after she takes it from the fridge to pour in my saucer. She claims I’m going to trip someone one of these days- why that is my concern I don’t know?! If humans are too dumb to get out of our way, what can we do about it? MOL!
Deb n Cats
Mija always wants some milk from my cereal bowl, but she turns up her nose depending upon what kind of cereal I’ve had. And she only laps a little before she’s had her fill. Same with ice cream. As long as it’s vanilla, she will lap a little. She’s not fond of yogurt although I had a cat who loved vanilla yogurt and I had to share. Mija’s sister, Pilchard, isn’t interested in people food.
Cherry City Kitties
We admit it. Tipp is a milk drinker. His vet is ok with it and she actually thinks it helps with a previous “very end of the digestive tract” problem he had. (MOM! I don’t want to talk about it!!!!). But we only do it because it gets her paws up!
Harry keeps trying to convince his Dad that Vanilla Ice Cream is a perfectly acceptable “cat food”. No go on that one Nutkin!
Sparkle
The humans here do not drink cow’s milk (they drink almond and coconut milk), so we’ve never had it. Which is probably just as well.