Cats and milk

Giving your cat milk can cause upset tummies, cramps and even severe diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea can also be fatal to kittens because it dehydrates their little bodies very quickly.

Cats and kittens do not need to drink milk and can actual live their entire lives without having one lap of milk. Water is all they will ever need. If you do wish to give them milk then you can buy lactose-free milk (lactose is the sugar found in milk) from your pet food store, vets or supermarket, but it’s not essential. Indeed, some cats, especially Siamese, will not drink milk at all.

Most cats are lactose intolerant because they lack the enzyme lactase, which aids in digesting lactose.

As undigested lactose passes through the cat's digestive system it draws water from the intestines. Lactose cannot pass easily through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, so it remains in the intestines.

Next, gut bacteria invade and fermentation sets in causing large amounts of gas to form. The result is pain and diarrhoea for your kitten.

Very young kittens produce the enzyme lactase when suckling from their mother but the ability to produce the enzyme diminishes after weaning.

Soft tissues such as meats and offal are very low in calcium and if they are fed as the sole food source, calcium deficiency will occur.

You might think that milk is the only source of calcium and the answer to this problem, but good proprietary diets will contain adequate supplies of the major and trace minerals, which includes calcium.