Can cats consume lactose-free milk?

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:30:47 -0800, Joy wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message
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"Joy" wrote in message
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"jmcquown" wrote in message
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"Lesley" wrote in message
news:ab8c8181-a622-47c3-825a-
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On Nov 1, 8:16 am, informer wrote:
I heard that it's not good to give cats a saucer of milk. I then
read somewhere that the problem lies in the lactose content. So, can
cats consume lactose-free milk without getting sick?

You can buy lactulose free milk specifically sold as cat milk

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs



Persial drinks the same milk I do (usually fat free milk or 1%
milkfat). But she doesn't get it daily. She gets a little drizzle
(less than a tablespoonful) of it every couple of weeks as a treat.
But every time I go near the refrigerator she's yelling at me to give
her milk. She loves the stuff. It doesn't make her ill or give her
diarrhea because I don't give it to her often. Certainly not as
often as she demands it

Jill

I think the bad reaction depends on the cat. Herbie (RB) insisted on
having an ounce or two of milk every day. He never got sick from it.
He'd drink anything from skim milk to half and half. Skeeter (RB)
hated milk, but because Herbie had some, she insisted on having some
too. I'd give her about a teaspoon of it. You could almost see her
shudder as she drank it. I swear if she had hands she'd have been
holding her nose. But she drank every drop, so that Herbie couldn't
get it.

Joy


Jealous kitty!! Yes, it definitely depends on the cat. Persia only
gets milk a couple of times a month. Just a drizzle. It doesn't
adversely affect her. But she's constantly begging for it every time I
go anywhere near the refrigerator. Fortunately she can't open *that*
door

Jill

At the time I had no idea it was bad for him. I guess he didn't know
either.

Joy

Cats can digest milk as kittens; the problem is that many (perhaps all)
of them eventually stop producing the enzyme needed to digest lactose.
Most humans have the same problem. As far as I know, the ability to
continue digesting lactose into adulthood is mostly limited to those of
European or South Asian ancestry, and even some of those folks develop
the lactose-intolerance.

--
John F. Eldredge --
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria