Are cats allowed to drink milk?
A cat drinking milk is as natural to most people as a dog chewing on a bone. In fact, a creamy bowl of fresh milk is gladly accepted by many cats.
But are cats allowed to drink milk, or is it not rather the case that drinking cow's milk may instead harm the four-legged friends? The answer to this question is given below.
Milk for cats: the most important facts at a glance
- Most cats are not allowed to drink milk because they cannot Cat milk with a reduced lactose content is an alternative, but it should only end up in your cat’s drinking bowl occasionally.
- If there is not enough breast milk available for kittens, a special rearing milk can help.
- Cats do not need to drink milk to be supplied with all the nutrients they need.
Why most cats cannot tolerate milk
Just like other mammals, kittens feed on their mother's milk after birth. This provides the little kittens with exactly the nutrients they need in the first weeks of life. Weaning from the mother's milk begins in cats in the third or fourth week of life. It is completed six to eight weeks after birth. From this point on, kittens feed only on solid food.
Like the milk of other animals, cat milk contains milk sugar (lactose). In order to digest this, the enzyme lactase is necessary. Lactase breaks down the milk sugar in the cat's intestine into glucose and galactose. As soon as the young cats stop drinking milk, the lactase that has become superfluous gradually disappears from their intestines.
As a result, the four-legged friends eventually become lactose intolerant. Similar to people with lactose intolerance, milk then causes diarrhoea and flatulence in many cats.
Where does the connection between cats and milk come from?
To understand why cats and milk still belong together for many people, a look into the past is necessary. In contrast to today, cats used to be kept primarily as rat and mouse catchers.
Especially on farms, these skilled hunters were indispensable. Proper cat food did not exist back then. Instead, the cats had to hunt for their own food.
On farms with dairy farming, they sometimes also received a little cow's milk. This was usually just the remains of the milk diluted with water and left over from cleaning the milking equipment. Nevertheless, the image of a cat drinking milk has survived until today.
Are young cats allowed to drink milk?
As long as kittens are still suckling, they basically have enough lactase in their intestines to digest milk. However, this does not mean that they can drink cow's milk instead of their mother's milk.
Because even if milk from cows may not yet cause any complaints in young cats, it does not contain the nutrients that the little four-legged friends need for healthy development.
If a mother cat does not produce enough milk or does not take care of her kittens, a special rearing milk for cats is the right choice instead of conventional cow's milk.
Cat milk as an alternative to normal cow's milk
Despite the digestive problems associated with its consumption, many cats enjoy drinking milk. If this applies to your four-legged friend, however, you should not use cow's milk but so-called cat milk instead.
Cat milk does also contain cow's milk. However, its lactose content is reduced, which makes it better tolerated by cats. You can either give your four-legged friend pure cat milk or dilute it with water. The latter can be useful if your cat drinks very little.
Cat milk is not a substitute for water
Although cat milk is tolerated quite well by most cats, it is not suitable as a general substitute for water. It is simply too high in calories for that.
Therefore, only let your cat drink some cat milk occasionally and take the calories it contains into account when feeding to avoid obesity.
Milk for cats - our conclusion
As you can see, cats are not usually allowed to drink milk, as most animals are simply lactose intolerant. However, if your cat still likes milk, you can give them some cat milk from time to time. This contains less lactose and is therefore easier to digest.
Irrespective of this, milk is not necessary for a species-appropriate diet for your cat anyway. High-quality cat food provides your cat with all the nutrients it needs for a vital life.
In our shop, you will find grain-free dry and wet food for your four-legged friend as well as a selection of healthy cat treats, which are the ideal alternative to milk for cats.
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