Can Kittens Eat Milk

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.

Can kittens eat milk. For instance people increasingly ask whether goat milk for cats is an acceptable treat. Kittens don t need cow s milk despite those charming storybook illustrations cow s milk is completely inadequate for kittens wynn says. Basic kitten feeding guide. Kittens are essentially baby carnivores with specialised needs.

Are lactose free milks okay for kittens. Cats and dairy fact 4. When young cats are old enough around 8 weeks old they start to eat food on their own whilst simultaneously decreasing the amount of milk they suckle from their mother. Kittens have an enzyme in their stomachs that allows them to break down lactose from their mother s milk but adult cats don t have this enzyme and lose the ability to digest milk sugars.

In many ways milk can become your kitten s comfort food that is reminiscent of their mother s milk. Orphaned kittens should get kitten formula not cow s milk. You can begin incorporating very soft solid food as your kitten is weaned and can introduce a full diet of solid food when the weaning process is completed. For the first weeks of their lives the diet of kittens consists of mother s milk only.

Instead the lactose in the milk may cause an upset stomach when it begins to ferment. While your kitten may seem perfectly content lapping up a bowl of milk it s not good for him or her. The toxic agent in chocolate is theobromine. Even specially formulated kitten milk should be treated as a food or treat not a drink if you do give them specially formulated milk make sure it s designed for kittens delicate stomachs.

Mother s milk will do for the first 3 to 4 weeks. After that you may begin adding canned food to their diet. Starting at around 6 or 7 weeks most kittens can switch over to solid food completely and no longer need to drink from their mother. There are other varieties of milk.

Although most cats won t eat it on their own they can be coaxed to eat it by owners and others who think they are giving the cat a treat. Kittens don t need milk after weaning so don t use milk as a water substitute. Though kittens have lactase in. 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.

Mother cats typically begin weaning their kittens when they are around 4 weeks old and complete the process between 8 and 10 weeks. In fact kittens and older cats can be intolerant to the sugars in milk and this can cause diarrhoea.