Most owners are sure that their cat simply can not live without milk. Is it really? It turns out, no. For adult animals, milk is not at all beneficial. Rather, it is harmful to their body.
And what to do? The animal asks for milk, how not to give? And anyway, why can't cats milk? It was always possible, and suddenly something new.
We will answer these questions. Read the article and learn everything.
Gives cow milk
What is milk? Any student will answer that this is a food product. Very useful, by the way. In fact, the composition of milk includes vitamins of groups B, A and D. And also such macroelements as calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Milk is fed to the young. If you look at the composition of the product, it is obvious that all vitamins and macronutrients benefit the growing body. Calcium serves to strengthen and form bones, potassium regulates the vital processes of the baby. And magnesium is responsible for increasing the immunity of the newborn.
Is milk good for adults? As stated above, no. Why can't cats drink milk? The answer is in the next subsection.
Harm for adult animals
In addition to nutrients, milk also contains milk sugar. It is also called lactose. Many feline representatives are lactose intolerant. In their body there is no enzyme responsible for the breakdown of milk sugar.
This applies not only to cats, but also to most adult animals. People can also observe this picture.
Is it dangerous?
Why can’t milk be given to cats? Can this adversely affect the health of the pet? Criminal, of course, nothing will happen. But an upset bowel is guaranteed. In common parlance - diarrhea. “Presses” some people so hard that they do not have time to run to their tray.
Does my cat carry milk?
How do I know if a cat is lactose intolerant? Only trial and error. Give your pet some milk and watch the result. If she recovered normally, it means that you can spoil her milk with periods. If there are problems with the chair, then there is nothing to be done. We'll have to replace milk with something else.
Are there any substitutes?
Why cats can not milk, we found out. Because of milk sugar, which organisms of individual individuals do not cope with.
How to replace a delicious product? There is a special milk that does not contain lactose. But getting it in Russia is very difficult. Therefore, you will have to look for a replacement on the shelves of our stores. You can offer kefir 1% fat, yogurt without additives, sour cream. All these products are given in small quantities and not very often.
Giving milk to a kitten or not?
Why cats cannot be milk is understandable. What about kittens? They can, they love this product.
Love is a fact. At the expense of "can" is a big question.
It is worth starting with the fact that cow milk is not a natural food for a kitten. The composition and properties of cat's milk and cow's essential are different. Only mom's milk is good for babies.
Kittens are weaned from a cat aged 7–8 weeks. By this time, they are transferred to normal nutrition. Milk is not included in the diet. It is replaced, as mentioned above, with natural yogurt or kefir.
And if it so happened that the newborn kittens were left without a mother? How to feed them? There are special mixtures for feeding kittens. They can be purchased at any pet store. But the usual milk from the bags, as well as the natural cow, is not suitable for this.
Milk and breed tolerance
Why can Scottish cats not milk? Or Siamese? Or Persian? Does lactose tolerance or intolerance depend on the breed? No way. The physiology of all cats is the same. In the Scottish body, the desired enzyme may be missing. And just one bowl of milk will provoke diarrhea.
To find out if this delicious product can be thoroughbred darling, you have to find out "poke method". As described above: offer some milk and observe the consequences.
Speaking of fold cats. Other breeders scare the owners that they should not give milk to lop-eared kittens. After all, there is so much calcium in it, from which ears can get up. That's bullshit. The position of the ears depends on genetics, not milk.
Then why not give milk to lop-eared cats and kittens? For the same reason as ordinary. Due to the possible lack of the necessary enzyme in the body.
It is better to offer milk substitutes to a thoroughbred pet: natural yogurt without additives or low-fat kefir.
What is wrong with milk?
Why cats can not milk, we have sorted. Now let's talk about some interesting facts related to this product.
- Today, stores have a huge selection of milk. But is a packaged product useful? You can hardly treat them to a cat. The fact is that most of the products presented come from cows that are fed with hormones and other chemicals. This is done for various reasons: to increase milk productivity, to improve growth, due to diseases. And what's the use of such a “cocktail”?
- Sometimes pesticides and other harmful substances can be found in milk.
- Commercial milk is pasteurized. At least some of it. This is done in order to kill pathogenic bacteria. But along with the bacteria, the beneficial properties of the product are also killed. Some elements are destroyed, for example, calcium. It’s more difficult for a cat’s body to digest it.
- Milk contains casein. And he is able to provoke an allergy in a pet.
Summarize
The purpose of the article is to clearly answer the question: why can’t milk be given to cats. Let's highlight the main aspects.
- Most cats suffer from intolerance to milk sugar (lactose).
- The product can cause diarrhea in a cat.
- Cow's milk differs from cat's in properties and composition, therefore it does not bear any benefit for kittens.
- Milk can be replaced with natural yogurt, low-fat kefir or sour cream.
- Commercially available milk may contain drug residues used to treat the cow. Or hormonal drugs that are administered to farm animals to improve something.
- Another minus of milk is casein. It causes allergies in some felines.
- What do vets say about this? It all depends on the animal’s body. Cat transfers milk - treat yourself a little, no - look for a replacement.
Conclusion
We found out why cats should not drink milk. If the pet tolerates the product well, you can give occasionally and a little. If not, it’s best not to experiment on the animal’s body.