Is it ok to give an outdoor cat warm milk with water?

Our question this week was:

Is it ok to give an outdoor cat warm milk with water?

Sam Goodwin

Answer

Hi Sam – thanks for your email. Your question was “Is it ok to give an outdoor cat warm milk with water?” This is a very good question. The short answer is “yes” and “no”. There is a sort of…stigma that cats and milk go together. Cats love milk. However, they don’t often digest cows milk well and can have diarrhea and/or vomiting from drinking cows milk.

Kittens need the nutrients in a mother cat’s milk but adult cats don’t need milk.

Having said that, I know many people that give their cats milk and other dairy products and their cats love it and don’t have problems. However, some do and again, there is nothing in the milk that they need.

So…if the cat is doing well and you enjoy giving the milk it is probably okay. However, if it is an outdoor stray – he could benefit most from some good quality cat food. That has the vitamins and nutrients that he really needs.

An article that might be helpful to you is Caring for Stray Cats.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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