Milk for cats?

[rosie]

My cat seems to be off water lately. I usually let her lick a little milk from my cereal bowl in the morning but would it be okay to give her some in a bowl for herself? I know at one time I heard milk causes worms but I still find that hard to believe.

 

[Laurasav]

I've never heard that milk causes worms in cats - I highly doubt it. All the professionals though say adult cats shouldn't be given milk (kittens need it) because for the most part adult felines are lactose intolerant. Milk will give them diarrhea. But there's always exceptions, and if your cat doesn't seem to have any tummy troubles, it's probably okay to let her have milk occasionally. There is a lactose free milk made especially for cats called CatSip, or you can buy human lactose free milk too.

 

[Waynefire]

I have given milk to my cats before and it is the special milk for them from the store. This is pricey at times, but they love drinking it and it does help keep them hydrated when they do not want to drink any of their water.

 

[chabella]

I have purchased the special milk too but if you are lucky you can get a good deal on it. Very seldom have we ever given our cats milk from the fridge though, why chance it? And on the note of cats I once had a cat that would go crazy for Doritos of all things, riddle me that.

 

[Luvkenny]

I have given my cats milk before. I just don't make a practice of it. I did not know they had a special milk out there for cats. I don't know why regular milk is not okay for them, I was just told it wasn't.

 

[beckyv1265]

I used to give milk to the farm cats all the time. The diarhea usualy only occurs when they first try it. They usualy adapt to it in time. Many cats don't like a dish of water but prefer a fountain. have you tried a small water fountain to drink from? My daughters cat will only drink from that. She cleans it and adds fresh water daily and it filters as it runs.

 

[Laurasav]

My Tonkinese cat likes drinking directly from the faucet in my bathroom. I should post a photo of him doing it - too cute! When my one calico cat was dying of kidney failure we got her a fountain to try to get her to drink as much water as possible. The fountains are nice to have. I can't remember what happened to ours, it must have broke or something since I haven't seen it for years.

 

[quitetenacious]

I only give my cats milk if I'm trying to get them to take a medication. I usually try mixing it with a little milk to get them to take it. I've always heard that cats were lactose intolerant and milk wasn't really good for them.

 

[Sage]

We buy the special milk whenever we can get it on sale. I kind of like to give it to them as an occasional treat rather than a daily thing.

 

[shaunche]

Anyone who has been raised on a farm will testify to how much cats love milk, especially fresh raw milk. I have a cat and he loves drinking milk. I don't drink milk myself but I buy a few liters per week for my cat to drink. I'm not bothered about worms etc, scaremongering imo.

 

[rosie]

My cat used to drink from the sink but that got too annoying. She'd spend a large part of the day crying by the bathroom door. (It didn't help that I spoiled her.) I'll look into the cat milk but she's stuck with 2% in my cereal!

 

[Jessi]

Most cats are lactose intolerant, so that's why you would avoid giving them milk....not because of worms. You especially don't want to give kittens milk, despite it being in all the movies, because the diarrhea can cause lots of problem if they're intolerant.

A little cereal milk won't hurt her, but there's really no reason to give her a whole bowl. Nutritionally, a bowl of water is better. Why give her that sugar?

 

[Melissa]

I wasn't aware milk causes worms but I do know that cats are lactose intolerant. Mine both are anyways. When mine were young I gave them kitten milk. WHiskas makes it in either cans ( pre made) or powder. Its lighter on their tummies so I highly recommend it.

 

[Isabellas2007]

Check your local store for the milk supplements from the places. When you are able to use the supplements you can finally get to enjoy having your cat drink the milk again. The only downside is if you use regular milk, you can have the problems of them throwing up because the cats are lactose intolerant.

 

[Nakhash]

Grown cats don't tolerate milk very well. I never allow mine to have more than a tablespoon and rarely at that. Maybe a grown cat can drink the kitten formulas on the market? I've seen them at the vet and pet stores.

 

[HealthyS7]

I asked my vet and he says that it can upset our cat's stomachs. Think about it. Milk isn't really all that good for humans either. It is made for baby cows.

 

[Kaybee517]

I have an adult cat that is 11 years old. I do the same in terms of letting my cat lick a little of the remaining milk out my cereal bowl, but I take it away after about 1 minute because I don't want her to get sick. I find if I leave out a full saucer of milk, she'll regurgitate, so I only limit her to a few licks once in a while.

 

[Micheleteresa]

It is not recommended that adult cats or kittens be given cows milk. The kitten milk replacement formulas can be expensive but whiskas makes a cat/kitten milk that is not to expensive. I mix it into wet cat food when I have to syringe feed sick kitty's rather than using water to make the canned food a thinner consistency as well as for some extra nutritional value.

 

[Jatelo2]

I've never heard that milk causes worms in cats - I highly doubt it. All the professionals though say adult cats shouldn't be given milk (kittens need it) because for the most part adult felines are lactose intolerant. Milk will give them diarrhea. But there's always exceptions, and if your cat doesn't seem to have any tummy troubles, it's probably okay to let her have milk occasionally. There is a lactose free milk made especially for cats called CatSip, or you can buy human lactose free milk too.

I never knew that adult cats were lactose intolerant and that milk causes worms. Since you stated the former, would please provide a link for more information on the subject. It might go a long way helping me with my research.

 

[Jatelo2]

I asked my vet and he says that it can upset our cat's stomachs. Think about it. Milk isn't really all that good for humans either. It is made for baby cows.

Though I might not be sure on the effects of milk in cats, I would love to slightly disagree with you on the importance of milk to humans. Milk is such a necessaary part of diet that refering to it to be only suitable for baby cows appears to ignore alot of facts. Check here for more on the importance of milk in a human diet: