Milk or No Milk

[purrley]

Since the popcorn topic was brought up, it came to mind that I've heard that its an old wives tale that cats need milk. Since I've raised several kittens, I have never given any of my kitties cows milk. They have grown up strong and healthy and I've heard that milk can actually be bad for cats. Causes diaharrea or constipations problems. Cat people out there - your opinions please

[Former User]

We asked this from our vet when we got Casper and Kitty, and he said we can give milk that is made for cats, but don't give milk which is made for humans. Cows milk isn't good for cats, dunno why, but that's what our vet said. We gave Casper and Kitty milk for about 2 months (they also had access to water), and they then themselves switched to water and we stopped giving milk. They seem to prefer water better.

[Cynthia]

I have also heard from several sources that cow's milk isn't good for cats. Someone told me about "cat milk" (made by Whiskas and available at Petsmart). It contains malt and taurine, which is evidently good for kitties, so I occasionally give it to my guys for a treat. Emmett loves it.

Actually, many sources now say that cow's milk isn't necessarily good for humans either! I've switched to soymilk (yeah, yeah, I'm over 40 ). Sometimes when I'm eating cereal in the morning Emmett will pester me to get the last few drops of soymilk in the bowl!

[wolflady]

Spencer, I've heard that lactose isn't good for cats also. Most sources that I've read say that it's actually not a good idea to give cats milk as they are lactose intolerant and can't process it well. Diarrhea and constipation and other problems like that tend to occur in older cats if they are given milk. Weird, huh??

[sailorsaturn]

I heard it was okay, just so long as theres not much and it's not offen. Then again, who knows?

[gini]

I think that Spencer has hit it on the head. And this has been verified by my vet.
I have had four cats and although each just loved cows milk - I learned that it was not a good thing for them to have. I have always wondered why they love it, beg for it if I open the refridgerator, and it is bad for them.

[yorkster]

I buy the catmilk by Whiskas at Petsmart- my cats LOVE it! I have given them regular cows milk before with no problems, but not anymore.

[4 feline house]

It's the bovine lactose - just like people, if it bothers your cat, don't let him have any. If it doesn't, there's no harm in it. But cats don't need milk, so it's probably better just to skip it or give cat milk for a treat.

[Uniqueviking]

Yes, cats are lactose intolerant that's why vets says no cow's milk!

When I got Jade she got cat's mother's milk substitute - Jade doesn't like it much, but Bladie loooves it, lol, so I give her a lil bit every days as a a treat!

[ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: Uniqueviking ]

[Kirsten]

I think not every cat is lactose intolerant but most of them are.
Both my Katz (RIP) and my Luna have been raised with cow milk by their previous owners; it was so hard to make them drink water, I bought Whiskas cat milk to make them drink enough. When I got my Katz, she already had bloody diarrhea. She couldn't get rid of stomach/colon-problems all her life adn I always thought that the cow milk might have caused her problems...

Kirsten

[NoahsMommy]

Noah LOVES milk! When we first got him, he had a Upper Respitory Infection and we had to give him meds twie a day. He refused to take them, so I put them in milk. He had it twice a day for two weeks and was totally fine.

He only gets it when he needs to take meds, his treat (to him) is ICE! He loves to lick ice in his special "ice bowl"...silly kitty!