Cats and Milk

It has been thought by some that cats and milk go together like horses and hay, but that’s no always the case. Contrary to popular belief, cats should not drink milk all that much if at all. Why? As kittens, cats have the digestive enzymes needed to process dairy especially milk. As the kittens grow older and mature into adult cats they start to lose this digestive enzyme making it hard to digest milk. Cats cannot digest milk all that well because they are lactose intolerant. In fact, the lactose in milk will begin to ferment in a cat’s stomach causing diarrhea or in worse cases vomiting. Symptoms of lactose intolerance usually occur within 8 to 12 hours. If your cat has had milk or other dairy and is starting to show similar symptoms, animal hospital Cornelius NC a call for treatment assistance.