Is Milk Good For Cats To Drink?

Is milk good for cats? Can I give my cat milk? Why do we say that cow's milk is bad for cats? Truths or Myths, what you believe, cats can drink milk or is not good for them?. Besides being a typical picture of an old painting, it is true that almost all cats love milk. You go to the refrigerator; you open a carton of milk, and your cat jumps like a spring and tries to steal a little milk "give me milk !!". If they could talk, they would ask us, but failing that we put beggar’s eyes.

What happens is that so many things that sometimes we're not sure whether to give milk to cats, because depending on who you listen it's okay to do so or otherwise be heard, it seems like giving poison and the cat will self-destruct if you drink milk past 10 seconds.

Seriously, what is the reality, there are people who have given milk to their cat's life and has never happened, but now hears so often not to give cats milk ... Let's try to answer a once and for all: cats can drink cow's milk? Is milk good for cats?!!

Cats love milk and dairy products in general.

One thing is certain. Apart from that cow's milk is good or bad for cats, most of them turn them crazy cow's milk. But not only milk but cheese also any kind (fresh, cured, cream), yogurt and cream!.

So if they like so much should we deprive our cats to test the milk? Why usually it is said that milk is not good for cats?


Is milk good for cats? What is lactose intolerance in cats?


Do cats can drink milk? Yes and no.
Some cats can drink milk, and nothing happens bad, but other cats are lactose intolerant, or you can also say colloquially who are intolerant to milk. This is not unique to cats; there are also humans and dogs that are intolerant to lactose. Lactose is a sugar found in milk and dairy products, but it is a complex molecule. That is, the lactose is in turn composed of two bound molecules that must be broken in the digestive tract cat before being absorbed by the body.

So, for a cat, it is not easy to digest milk because it is not easy to "break" or break down the complex sugar molecule (lactose). - That is, lactose is a sugar difficult to break into smaller parts to be digested.

To process the lactose, the body of cats (same as human) use the "lactase" which is an enzyme found in the small intestine. Say lactase is the biological tool to digest milk. The downside is that not all cats produce it in sufficient quantities to digest milk properly. If a cat does not have enough lactase, you cannot break the molecule milk sugar, as mentioned earlier.

When we say that an adult cat is "lactose intolerant" it means just this, that deficiency of lactase cannot process the lactose in milk, and it goes into your large intestine undigested or poorly digested and gives problems. What kind of problems has a cat intolerant to milk if you take?

Symptoms of lactose intolerance in cats. You will know that your cat is lactose intolerant if after drinking milk:

  • It has an upset stomach.

  • It has diarrhea.

  • Gases.

  • Or even vomiting.

As we mentioned before, some people are also lactose intolerant, but in proportion intolerance to cow's milk is more common among adult cats than among adult humans. That is, proportionally more intolerant cats milk intolerant to milk. - I think there comes the misconception that milk is bad for all cats (but is not the milk itself is toxic to cats).

Is it dangerous to drink milk for a cat? What if I give my cat milk?


Much as it is not dangerous. Milk is not "poison" for normal, healthy cats. It is not even like them chocolate, yes it is very toxic to cats. If you give your cat milk two things can happen:

  • That nothing bad happens because your cat can digest milk (my cats, for example, drink some milk occasionally and nothing happens). 'This does not mean that milk should be the basis of the diet of a cat, but as a treat is acceptable if your cat is not intolerant.


  • Let your cat milk will cause diarrhea or other symptoms noted earlier. Clearly it is not nice to have diarrhea, but it does not mean a danger of imminent death, come on ... However, if you recognize the symptoms described, it means that your cat is lactose intolerant and should act accordingly.

How to give milk for your cat?


1. If your cat is lactose intolerant, do not give milk! Be observant and ends with the root problem. If you find that giving a little milk to your cat gets diarrhea, then do not give it ever period. No matter you ask for it simply will not, because he cannot digest it.

Why should you not give milk to cat lactose intolerant? Because if a cat lactose intolerant continues to take lactose, their enzymes to digest that already were insufficient, weaken further, and your digestive system suffers unnecessarily. That is, you would weaken the digestive system without your kitten.

If you want, you can try to give your cat a little plain yogurt, which is softer and easier to digest and see if the yogurt sits well. If this also gives you diarrhea, for nothing, dairy ran out for your cat.

2. Utilize small amounts of milk: Paracelsus says "everything is poison, nothing is without poison. Only the dose makes the poison.” After that, given only tiny amounts of milk to your cat (a "shot glass of milk" or a small cup from time to time) as a treat or reward.

3. Lactose-free milk or milk diluted with water: A great idea if your cat goes crazy for milk is to give lactose-free milk (lactose-free milk), skim milk or if you do not have, then lowered milk equal parts with water, because all these options will be easier to digest than whole milk for your cat.

4. Fresh cheese or yogurt: Another good way to give your cat milk is more digestible than milk is to give fresh cheese or yogurt. The best cheeses for cats are fresh Burgos cheese (or other fresh cheese), cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, low-fat, designated or if not, the Italian Ricotta because everyone, in general, are lighter and easier to digest for cats own cow's milk.

Are there cats allergic to milk?


This case exists but is rare. When someone says "my cat is allergic to milk" generally means "my cat is lactose intolerant cannot digest it well." It's the case that we have explained above.

However they do exist a few dogs and allergic to milk cats, because they are allergic to a protein found her (Wills J, Harvey R, "Diagnosis and management of food allergy and intolerance in dogs and cats," Australian Veterinary Journal). These dogs and cats obviously get very ill when they drink milk, and neither should ever try.

Infant’s puppies and cow's milk


In this case, we speak of nursing kittens, par which milk is the only food and base your diet. Imagine you have to care for an orphaned kitten is still nursing. In that case, Do not give cow's milk to your kitten under any circumstances because you can cause significant physical damage.

You'll have to buy special milk for kittens, sold on the market in liquid form or powdered milk. The kittens are very fragile and could give you a very strong diarrhea if you feed them cow's milk. So no nursing kittens and cow's milk, okay?!