Can Baby Kittens Drink Milk

Newborn kittens are able to get all of the nutrition that they need from their mother s milk.

Can baby kittens drink milk. However kittens who are old enough to separate from their mothers are old enough to drink water instead of milk. There are other varieties of milk. Cats that aren t lactose intolerant can be given a small amount of cow s milk but it s still better to give them yogurt kefir or goat s milk instead. Kittens lack the proper enzymes to digest the lactose in cow milk and feeding cow milk to kittens can cause diarrhea and dehydration very quickly in very small kittens.

A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Although water is essential to keep cats healthy and strong they don t need it straight out of the womb. Since cats don t have the enzyme necessary for digesting lactose drinking milk can lead to gastrointestinal issues such as an upset stomach diarrhea vomiting loss of appetite and weight. As weaning progresses and milk intake is reduced a kitten s digestive tract decreases its lactase production which can sometimes develop into a lactose intolerance.

The only type of milk that is suitable for managing the specific nutritional demands of kittens is milk from lactating cats period. The only milk that is healthy for kittens to drink is either their mother s or they will need a kitten milk replacer which can also be called kmr or kitten milk formula. If mama cat isn t around then a kitten milk replacer shall do too. Cow s milk can cause tummy upset and diarrhea and contains too much lactose and not enough protein fat and energy.

Because human baby formula is made from cow s milk it is high in lactose. For instance people increasingly ask whether goat milk for cats is an acceptable treat. Goat milk for kittens is a little more salutary than cow s milk but. While a newborn kitten can digest lactose which is also found in a mother cat s milk kittens lose that ability shortly after they are weaned.

Although most cats can digest at least one type of milk that doesn t mean it s particularly good for their health. For this reason a kitten or cat should also not be given cow s milk. During the lactation period infants produce a large amount of the enzyme lactase responsible for digesting the lactose that makes up milk. Cow s milk is inappropriate for newborn kittens.