WEBVTT - Should You Give Cats Milk? 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:07.320 Welcome to brainstuff. From How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuffed, 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:11.240 Lauren Vogel bomb here. From children's books to TV commercials, 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.520 the idea that cats are wild about milk is everywhere. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.800 Yet what pop culture fails to show is what happens 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.919 shortly after that bowl of milk is empty. The cute 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.480 kitty peacefully lapping away at a bowl of fresh milk 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:27.680 is likely to spend the next few hours suffering from diarrhea, gas, bloating, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:32.360 and other unpleasant side effects. Cats, like most adult mammals, 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:36.200 including many humans, are lactose intolerant. That means they lack 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:39.320 the enzymes needed to break down lactose the sugars found 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.280 in milk. A bowl of milk isn't likely to be deadly, 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.120 but the after effects are likely to trouble both the 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.040 cat and the owner, who has to clean up the mess. 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:50.680 If your cat seems to tolerate milk to an extent, 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.400 or if you simply want to offer your cat something special, 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:56.800 consider milk like any other treat. Since milk has little 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.760 nutritional value to the cat, it's no substitute for proper 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:01.800 cat food and should be served to the cat with 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.120 the same care that you would any other human foods 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.080 or commercial cat treats. That means making sure that milk 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.959 and other treats make up only ten to of a 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.760 cat's diet. To avoid potential weight problems and the health 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.360 troubles that come with them, consider limiting milk to no 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.920 more than twenty to thirty calories per day. That's no 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.240 more than a few spoonfuls. Consider lactose free milk or 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:26.400 goat's milk to reduce digestive problems. But what about kittens. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.480 Surely they need milk, right, Wild kittens have the ability 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.720 to digest some lactose, their bodies simply aren't designed to 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.119 deal with the level of lactose found in cow's milk, 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.880 which has about three times as much lactose as that 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.800 of a mama cat. Drinking cow's milk will not only 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.959 give kitten's diarrhea, but will actually cause them to slowly 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.000 starve to death if their diet isn't properly supplemented. The 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.640 ratio of cassin's and whey, which are milks molecular keepers 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.800 of proteins, fats, and sugars in cow's milk, is nowhere 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.880 near sufficient to support a growing kitten. If you're attempting 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.120 to nurse kittens without the help of their mom, pick 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.880 up special cats milk at the pet store. This milk 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:04.880 is specially formulated to provide the right ratio of Casin's 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.600 and way to meet the nutritional needs of kittens without 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:16.400 the painful digestive issues associated with cow's milk. Today's episode 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.120 was written by Bambi Turner and produced by Tristan McNeil. 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:21.680 For more on this and lots of other practical topics, 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:35.680 visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com.