Milk!!

[stacey87]

hi all, i have been looking after a stray cat for about a week now, she is approximately 18 months old and with no sign of any owners (posting online, posters, newsletters etc etc) i am going to keep her, however after a been a stray (uncertain of how long) she is really thin and bony, i have read in a few articles on this forum that i shouldnt feed her cows milk! however in her straying days she must of only had this as a source of fluids ( all houses nearby have milk delivered and left on doorsteps with foil lids on, real easy for a thirsty cat to take off and drink the milk) i have tried iving her water but wont have any of it! i have even tried watering down the milk but she wont entertain it, what can i do?

[PoshPuss]

My dear angel Posh loved cat milk, she had hardly any teeth after a mass dental extraction ( she's been a stray, btw) it's low lactose so cat's can tolerate it. Whiskas do one as does Asda -Tiger cat milk- which is cheaper and just as good ;) x

[pamela81]

i give my 2 the asda tiger tiger cat milk, 3 cartons for the price of 1 whiskas carton and they love it!!

[alexgirl73]

I would suggest the cat milk too, along with a bowl if water. she may take sneaky drinks when you aren't looking lol.

[stacey87]

Ok thanx very much for the info, i shall pop to my local supermarket (morrisons) and hopefully they will do a cheap version that's just as good, i don't want to harm her by giving the wrong milk but at the same time don't want her to go without drinking. When the vet checked her on the second day i had her, he said she had swollen intestines and a shrunken bladder, due to lack of nutrients food etc, hope this gets better with a good diet and a warm house and lots of cuddles.

[Elaine]

Hi, cats are not naturally drawn to water as dogs and humans are. They evolved in the desert and absorbed all the moisture they needed from their prey. Their organs evolved to compensate for this which is why a cats urine is so concentrated.
Many cats are lactose intolerant which can cause many digestive problems, some cats can cope with it as an occasional treat but not on a regular basis.
Cat milk is more of a food than a liquid.
Personally I would just add a little water to her food. A cat who is regularly at a water dish is a cat I would worry about more.
In order to build her up, I would suggest kitten food and feed little and often.

[pamela81]

Elaine, thats exactly what i did when Harris was poorly to make sure he was eating as much of his dinner that he could manage but also getting a bit extra from the watered down milk as well as increasing his water intake

[stacey87]

Ok thanx again for all the info, she certainly likes her grub :-) soon as i put food down she wolfs it all, i know people say leave a bowl of biscuits but if i did that she wud end up sick as she wud eat it all, at the minute shes getting half a pouch of kitten meat mixed with a handful or two of biscuits 3-4 times a day, should i increase that amount or would that be enough to build her up to start with, i don't want to make her poorly by over feeding her as she has been a stray for sometime and is so thin.

[Elaine]

No, that sounds pretty adequate to me. Wet food will give her enough moisture but there is no harm in adding a little water to it. I am not a huge fan of dry food due to the fact that cats dont drink enough and in turn dry food makes the kidneys work harder than they should. Dry food is normally higher in calories too, another reason for so many obese cats, so restricting how much she has will not harm her.

[stacey87]

Yeah i will add some water from now on, I'm just really using the biscuits as a bulking agent untill she gets back to a good weight, then will just use wet food.

[Marigold7]

Never in over 40 years of breeding and caring for cats have I had one who was allergic or could not tolerate cows milk for any reason and I would seriously question that one research article that spread this around. Some research also shows that most humans are lactose intolerance .. which also is not true.

On a very limited budget buying specialist foods is not possible so we rely on milk greatly and never saw any ill effects on any cat.

But then I am old and freely more on my own and others experience than on anything else and in this house milk rules. Especially when feeding ferals etc

[stacey87]

Well in the week ive her i only gave her milk, and she seemed fine had solid poos and no sickness or anything, but stopped when i was told it was bad for her, but i must admit i am easy influenced when it comes to cats as this is the first one i have ever looked after, so I'm just relying on good honest people to help and guide me along the way

[Marigold7]

Well in the week ive her i only gave her milk, and she seemed fine had solid poos and no sickness or anything, but stopped when i was told it was bad for her, but i must admit i am easy influenced when it comes to cats as this is the first one i have ever looked after, so I'm just relying on good honest people to help and guide me along the way

As it is claimed that lactose intolerant cats get the runs if they have milk, I am sure that yours has no problem with milk. And I think of myself as a good honest person..milk is such a good food. A pity to withhold it,

[Elaine]

To digest lactose, a milk sugar, the human and feline digestive systems must contain the enzyme lactase. We have plenty of this enzyme in our systems at birth, and it helps us thrive on our mother’s milk.
But as we grow up, it’s normal for people and cats to begin producing less lactase. Less lactase means less ability to digest lactose. The result may eventually be lactose intolerance.
When a lactose-intolerant cat drinks milk, the undigested lactose passes through the intestinal tract, drawing water with it, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine's web site. Bacteria in the colon also ferment the undigested sugars, producing volatile fatty acids.
Still, most vets don't recommend it. Cats don’t need milk, and the potential problems outweigh the potential benefits.
How can you tell? Try offering your cat a tablespoon or two of milk. If you don’t see symptoms within a day, chances are good your cat will do fine with milk as an occasional treat.
Remember that treats of all sorts -- such as tuna, meat, cheese, or other “people foods” -- should make up no more than 5% to 10% of your cat’s diet. The rest of your cat's calories should come from a high-quality, nutritionally complete cat food.
If you’re not sure what that means for your cat, talk to your vet. Also, remember that offering table food to a cat often teaches a cat to be finicky.
Sometimes a cat that can’t tolerate milk may have no problem with other forms of dairy, like yogurt, cheese, butter, or ice cream. That’s because “different forms of dairy food contain varying amounts of lactose.
There are two reasons for that. Foods like yogurt and ice cream are often diluted with other things, such as water or added fats. They may also be cultured, meaning microorganisms have digested part of the lactose.
So if you want to give a sensitive feline a bit of dairy, the chances of an intolerance reaction are less with cheeses, yogurts, and other cultured dairy.

[Marigold7]

To digest lactose, a milk sugar, the human and feline digestive systems must contain the enzyme lactase. We have plenty of this enzyme in our systems at birth, and it helps us thrive on our mother’s milk.
But as we grow up, it’s normal for people and cats to begin producing less lactase. Less lactase means less ability to digest lactose. The result may eventually be lactose intolerance.
When a lactose-intolerant cat drinks milk, the undigested lactose passes through the intestinal tract, drawing water with it, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine's web site. Bacteria in the colon also ferment the undigested sugars, producing volatile fatty acids.
Still, most vets don't recommend it. Cats don’t need milk, and the potential problems outweigh the potential benefits.
How can you tell? Try offering your cat a tablespoon or two of milk. If you don’t see symptoms within a day, chances are good your cat will do fine with milk as an occasional treat.
Remember that treats of all sorts -- such as tuna, meat, cheese, or other “people foods” -- should make up no more than 5% to 10% of your cat’s diet. The rest of your cat's calories should come from a high-quality, nutritionally complete cat food.
If you’re not sure what that means for your cat, talk to your vet. Also, remember that offering table food to a cat often teaches a cat to be finicky.
Sometimes a cat that can’t tolerate milk may have no problem with other forms of dairy, like yogurt, cheese, butter, or ice cream. That’s because “different forms of dairy food contain varying amounts of lactose.
There are two reasons for that. Foods like yogurt and ice cream are often diluted with other things, such as water or added fats. They may also be cultured, meaning microorganisms have digested part of the lactose.
So if you want to give a sensitive feline a bit of dairy, the chances of an intolerance reaction are less with cheeses, yogurts, and other cultured dairy.

I disagree totally with this. From over 40 years of cats. I rarely use cat food at all. My cats are in rude health and enjoy their food and the only health problem in recent years was caused by commercial food recommended and sold by a vet The pet food industry is money based.

Milk is an excellent food for cats on a daily basis. Unless in a rare case there is true lactose intolerance . Which I have never encountered

My cats enjoy a wide variety of foods. As do my dogs. Much is raw...they shine and glow with health

[alexgirl73]

Hmm, interesting opposing viewpoints. I must admit I have often wondered how cats survived before the advent of 'pet foods' and I would be interested to hear if anyone has done some research on the matter.

[angieh]

I am nearly there with feeding my dogs RAW - having to use up kibble, so they get that in the morning atm and RAW in the evening. Sort of feel odd about the bones, so not actually giving them much of that (apart from for treats/gnawing). I did wonder about trying the cats ...... so I offered them some mince and they turned up their little noses. I though Pip might try but would have taken bets that Kizzy wouldn't. That's the thing with cats isn't it? They will eat what they want and just not even try with anything "strange", won't even try it. My old cat used to love the occasional bit of raw mince (prev. frozen) and I do occasionally offer milk - Pip won't try it and Kizzy has a few licks and that's it. I did used to give my old cats milk with some warm water and they did like that but I did not notice any digestive problems afterwards.

[pamela81]

We offered raw chicken to barney who loved it. We offered it to the cats and they turned it down eve though they meow like mad when im cutting chicken up. My 2 get cat milk and I will on occasion let Harris have the tiny bit of milk in my cereal bowl but I won't intentionally give them a bowl of normal milk. Harris stomach can be sensitive enough due to other issues

[Elaine]

I have no issues with feeding raw.
I do have issues with advising people that its ok to feed inapropriate foods on a regular or daily basis.
With respect Marigold, you are perhaps fortunate to not have witnessed any ill effects from feeding milk daily but many other would disagree with you.
I prefer to give and take advice based on facts and science and not one persons opinion.
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Healthy-Cats/can-i-feed-my-cat-milk.html

http://www.cat-world.com.au/can-cats-drink-milk

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/FeedYourCat.cfm

http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/whats-the-deal-with-cats-and-milk

[Elaine]

Hmm, interesting opposing viewpoints. I must admit I have often wondered how cats survived before the advent of 'pet foods' and I would be interested to hear if anyone has done some research on the matter.


Well I can tell you they didnt survive on pasturised cows milk.;)

[Elaine]

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/digestive/c_ct_food_reactions_gastrointestinal#.UjsoRaxdA24

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/common-allergies-cats

http://www.cat-world.com.au/food-intolerances-in-cats

http://www.catchatwithcarenandcody.com/2011/05/feline-nutrition-food-allergy-or.html

[Moli]

In all my 40 years of owning cats, I have only had one who could drink cows milk, he got it as a treat occasionally...the others would end up with upset tums....So started to buy milk especially for cats and have not had any trouble...

[PoshPuss]

I suppose that because, many moons ago, most cats, even domesticated ones were fed by their kills mostly, with kitchen scraps given as and when. Milk became a supplement as it was relatively cheap and seen as 'nutritious'.I don't suppose we ever saw the end product of this milk as cat litter was non existent, all cats did their business in other people's gardens and it got covered up. If cats fell sick, it was due to poisons/bad health.

Now cats are given increased status in society we afford them the same attention to their health and diet as people. Treated as family members we want what is best for them. I don't blame anyone for feeding cats what they can afford, or after due consideration of their pet's needs to offer alternate types of food; raw, kibble, wet etc.

Like our little human people we have to know what's best for them but are free to make choices, as long as it is safe.