Is it True that Cats Love Milk? Is Milk Healthy for Cats?
Is milk good and healthy for cats and kittens? Don’t Cats Love milk?
Some cats do, but listen.
In this post I will in detail explain to you why cow milk is NOT GOOD for most cats.
So pay attention…
In old movies, a woman always gives a cat some milk to drink on a little plate. The cat or kitten for that matter, laps it up and looks all thankful and happy after woulds.
However, what the movie does NOT show, what side effects the poor little cat or kitten has.
When kittens are small, they naturally drink their mothers cat milk, as all other nursing baby animals also do.
However, once they grow up, the kittens don’t need to drink mothers milk or any milk any more.
Also, kittens that nurse, produce an enzyme called lactase. The kittens use this to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk.
As the kitty cats grow older (up to about 12 weeks), they start eating other foods and lose the ability to create lactase.
Since the enzyme is no longer produced, the kitten or cat has a much more difficulty in digesting lactose.
Side affects include diaherria, bowling problems, gasses (farts), puking and other nasty side affects.
Simply put, cats cannot stand lactose (in milk).
So the answer to the question if milk is good for cats is a NO!
Why are Some Cats Able to Digest Milk?
When cats stop being weaned they stop making lactase, unless they get lactose (milk sugar) from another source than their mothers milk.
If a cat keeps getting milk on a regular basis, it will keep making lactase and be able to digest milk.
Since most cats don’t drink any more milk since weaning time, they become lacose intolerant.
Once a kitten stops producing lactase, it will never produce it again!
If you cat always drank milk, from when she was a kitty, then she’s probably ok.
However, cow milk is not cats natural milk, and could still eventually lead to other health issues and problems.
A good option if you really want to give your cat some milk to drink, is commercialy made cat milk.
TIP: If you really want to give your cat milk to drink than give your cat some Special Cat Milk to drink.
Some cats like that very much, and some cats don’t. It depends on what they’re used to drinking. Give it a go if you like!!
You can read more about lactose intolorance in cats and why cow milk is bad for cats here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin/Molloy#Blimpy_the_Lactose_Intolerant_Cat