SOME GREAT WORDS: AND THOUGHTS ABOUT GIVING CATS MILK
In spite of having had a wondrous and personally challenging veterinary education, every once in a while I discover that I just don’t seem to have all of the answers to many of the questions my treasured clients ask me. And when it happens, I find it quite frustrating. “Doc, why did my cat urinate on my boyfriend’s brand-new cowboy boots?” I don’t know, maybe your cat has better tastes in men than you do! “Doc, why does my dog pass wind when my son feeds him Coco Puffs?” I don’t know, but you probably shouldn’t be feeding your kid Coco Puffs in the first place!
At times like these, one of my ways of dealing with this shortcoming of knowledge is to fall back on the universal wisdom of the many great medical thinkers I’ve had the honor to have read or to have known personally. For the sake of today’s article, I’m going to once again quote one of my former professors, the world-famous Dr. Francis H. Fox.
For those readers outside of the day-to-day universe of veterinary medicine, Dr. Fox has been at the business of teaching vet students and saving animals for close to sixty years. As I write this article today, even though his old joints are a little bit lame, he still gets in his car and heads out to his clients’ farms in order to attend sick animals.
Getting back to the story, whenever I find myself at a loss to explain why this or that disease happens, or why this treatment works and this other one doesn’t, I always fall back on one of Dr. Fox’s most favorite sayings: “I don’t care what anybody thinks; I’m just a doddering old coot who continues to plod along out there in the fields, trying to help nature save a few cows. If something works, and even though the know-it-all scientists haven’t given it their darned [darned is not the exact word Dr. Fox used] seal of approval, I’m still gonna use it anyway.”
In today’s article, I’m going to jump into the abyss of controversy—AGAIN!!!—and try to answer a question that I’m asked nearly every day. And what boggles my mind the most when I’m asked this question is that nearly all of the people who ask the question already know what the right answer is. This is because nearly all of them are already doing it. They’re mostly just looking for my permission to do it.
The question on everyone’s lips is: “Doc, is it OK to feed my cat milk?”
I’ll begin by answering this question with another question: How many of you gentle readers out there have ever heard of a cat actually dropping dead from drinking milk? Hmm? In my short and sweet twelve years here in this business of saving cats and dogs—and the occasional rabbit or cow—I’ve never seen or have heard of a cat dying from drinking milk.
I then tell the story of how, way back in the olden days, when I still worked on a lot of dairy cows (Dr. Fox still gives me hell every time he sees me for “sellin’ out” to the cat and dog business), nearly every farm I went to had a bunch of old car hubcaps in the center of their barn floors. During milking time, when the farmer pulled the milking machine off of the first cow, the first thing she would do is fill these hubcaps up with milk. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, would come billions and billions of cats to slurp up this milk. I don’t recall seeing a single cat dropping dead.
Likewise, I admit that when Theresa and I were dairy farmers, we, too, were guilty of giving our cats milk; we just went on and on in ignorant bliss and innocently filled those hubcaps to overflowing at every milking. Also, in my humble first book, I tell the story of how I gave our cat Suzie (who lived nineteen wonderful years) milk every morning. Likewise, this very morning as I write this story, when I poured my first cup of coffee, I also gave a big dollop of milk to our cats, Bugsy and Grayslob.
With regards to an actual medical reason for not drinking milk, I’ve never been able to get a straight answer from anyone in the world of academia. It seems to be one of those urban myths that have been passed on from generation to generation of veterinary students. If I had to make a guess, the most likely answer to the mystery would probably go like this: About fifty years ago, some poor old professor’s cat got run over by a milk truck, just as the driver of this milk truck was running off with the professor’s wife. Then, after the telling and retelling of the story, only the key words milk and cat and death got passed on.
In all fairness to these great veterinary minds, I’ve gotten some answers. They tell of possible lactose intolerance in some cats, possible bladder stone formation, and even the possibility of causing under nutrition. But these reasons are all kind of weak and have not been objectively documented, at least in my research. One beloved professor even told me that the only reason she said no to feeding milk was because she worried that some cat owners would then feed only milk—and nothing else but milk—to their cats. In short, the advice to not feed cats milk seems to be one of those folk wisdom tales whose logic seems to defy people’s real-world experiences, as well as all common sense.
My final thoughts are as follows: If you’re not comfortable about the concept of feeding your kitty cats milk, don’t do so. However, keep in mind that milk is one of nature’s perfect foods. It contains lots of vitamins, calcium, and proteins. It’s a good laxative, which is an important thing for older cats. If you’re already feeding your cat a treat of milk, and everything is OK, then I know of no logical reason to stop. But please keep in mind that moderation is the key. Don’t overdo it, and don’t feed only milk; make sure he/she eats cat food as well.
If you want to start giving a treat of milk to your cat, try giving him or her a small amount at first. If the cat doesn’t vomit or get diarrhea, then it’ll probably do no harm. If your cat gets the screaming-meemies poops, then he or she is likely to be lactose intolerant, and therefore you should stop.
Thanks.
Copyright © 2004 by Richard Orzeck, DVM
The information in this article is based upon the author’s personal experience and his best interpretation of veterinary data at the time of writing. It is not intended to render veterinary advice or service. Specific needs and questions concerning your pet’s health should always be addressed by his or her best friend, your local veterinarian.