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  #1  
Old March 10th, 2007, 09:49 AM
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RolandsMom RolandsMom is offline
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Cats and milk ??

So i was just wondering. If cats love milk so much and its the lactose thats the issue with giving them milk, if i buy lactose free milk, surely that would solve that problem? is that the only reason cats shouldnt really drink milk or is there more to it?
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Old March 12th, 2007, 12:23 AM
Prin Prin is offline
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Hmm.. Not sure. But my concern, even if lactose free milk is ok, is that the sugar content is a little higher (ever notice how it's sweeter?) because the lactose is already converted into glucose...
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Old March 12th, 2007, 09:02 AM
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good point. i havent given it to him and now i wont. imgiving him rice milk right now cause hes getting canned pumpkin for his loose stools. he loves the pumpkin and im not so sure that he would drink the milk if it wast for that! i guess he doesnt really need milk. i just like to spoil him.
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Old March 12th, 2007, 09:10 AM
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Yeah, just dont give them milk. They dont need it. You only think your spoiling them. Cat doesnt know they're being spoiled.
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Old March 12th, 2007, 09:28 AM
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Milk can (often) cause loose stools or even diarrhea, a good reason to stick to water.
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  #6  
Old March 12th, 2007, 09:31 AM
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can the cat milk also lead to diarrhea? you know the one they sell specifically for cats? (i dont give Roland milk, im trying to find an alternative.)
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  #7  
Old March 12th, 2007, 09:34 AM
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I dont really know if it is true or not but I had heard that by giving milk your cat can get worms?

P.S Roland is adorable! He is beside my Winston on the Pet Wall!

Cindy
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Old March 12th, 2007, 09:43 AM
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thank you hes a little monster!
i doubt that milk can give cats worms as im pretty sure there needs to be eggs in it to do so. worms. they gross me out so completely!
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Old March 13th, 2007, 02:40 AM
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Old milk might maybe have salmonella (so I've heard, but I don't know for sure), but not fresh milk. If it had worms, I think we'd have them by now.
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Old March 13th, 2007, 04:02 AM
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CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
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Actually, there is a little bit more to it than simple lactose intolerance. Cats are carnivores and need more protein in their diet than almost any other animal (A minimum of 25% of their diet should be protein!)- It's entirely possible there are other animals who need more but I can't think of any off hand but perhaps someone with more expertise than I on this subject might. (Like a vet who specializes in feline diets.) They have the ability to break down large amts of protein to glucose and this is essential for kitties.

Milk - and any food with carbs for that matter - has no nutritional value for cats at all and if you do feed it to them, it is esentially junk food for their bodies. Cats really cannot adjust to a low protein diet and will use protein already in their body to satisfy their needs and with their already sensitive digestive system, this proess results in some of the problems we see if they are given milk - like diarrhea, stomach probs and even vomiting. They can process certain kinds of carbs (and that is why some of the cheap stuff on the grocery store shelves with all those grains (ie carbs!) is also really just junk food that fills up a cat. They can matabolize some carbs like cooked rice for example but just don't have the needed enzymes to digest the sugars - lactose but also sucrose in most milk. Unlike most animals - incl us- they do not seem to be able to adjust their rate of protein breakdown and thus turn off the mechanism when their tummies are suddenly faced with milk. (especially cow's milk. Goat milk seems less problematic but still has lactose and sucrose.)

I think sometimes this - along with other aspects of feline diets - is what leads to the notion of cats being perceived as finicky eaters. They just have very sensitive digestive systems!

Cats should always have fresh water available to them - I have one of those
constantly flowing pet water drinking fountain that adds O2 and says it filters the water but I use bottled water anyway.

IF your cat likes milk - and many do but actually, some do not (My two Sphynx kitties do not care for it) you can buy products like " Cat-Sip" and other similar brands that is milk for cats - it has no lactose and also has taurine which kitties really need!! A deficiency in taurine increases a cat's risk of serious damage to major organs such as the eye and the heart. (I give my 10 yr old meezer who has a heart murmur his extra taurine supplements daily.) but it is found in meat anyway. I read recently on some "expert" web site that Siamese do not care for milk but while I have never given it to my older guy - because he recently joined our family - but I know my female, who I've had since she was 12 wks old, lapped up my milk one day by mistake with cereal gusto when I was not looking!! She only drank about a spoonful tho and did not seem to be too upset by it. (I learned to watch my cereal though from then on!!) I do buy her cat milk with taurine tho and all my cats drink that, along with water.








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  #11  
Old March 13th, 2007, 09:43 AM
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Cyberkitten you are a wealth of usefull information! Thank you.
I will carry on with the kitty milk then once his stomach has totally returned to normal. he loves it! he also is loving the yogurt the vet told me to give him to help get his bowels back to normal after my terribly failed attempt to switch him over to EVO. Im guessing that yogurt doesnt have all the stuff that milk has that they cant process. hes getting organic 3.5% natural yogurt so at least it doesnt have and sugar or anything else added.
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  #12  
Old March 17th, 2007, 05:11 PM
katwoman katwoman is offline
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hi,well when i had a cat i used to give her milk all the time,but you have to be carefull becuase if you give them too much milk they get fat.you have to change the milk everyday.But water is good for them but when the cat thinks it's getting milk they want it every night.So i give myn it when she was good.But just becarefull how much you give the cat.(Watch the wieght)
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