Ever since I was born many years ago, we kept a cat in the family. But not in Thailand. Recently beat-up stray tomcat seems to have adopted us, and my wife has been feeding it when it turns up first thing in the morning and evening, crying for food. I've been giving it about a third of a cup of milk as I've always done with cats but my nephews are saying that cats shouldn't have milk as it can cause them stomach problem? Is this a new woke problem like multiple allergies in humans that we had never heard of in my day?

try lactose free

I got some cream for you. 

Goats milk is supposed to be OK for them , but depends how much you like the cat

 

regards Worgeordie

Lactose intolerance is not common in cats. Those that are, will have diarrhoea after drinking it. (not immediately lol)

If he wants it, and it helps create the bond - let him have it.

 

He does not 'need' to drink milk. Humans are the only placental animal that continue to drink milk after weaning!

 

I do not 'need' to drink beer , but I like it...

Feed it dry cat food. Cheap and easy. 

 

Picture? 

Phew~~

 

I thought you were going to tell us about your mom's STD.

14 hours ago, save the frogs said:

try lactose free

Yeah, milk from free running cows milked at midnight during full moon nights only.😂

14 hours ago, Gandtee said:

Ever since I was born many years ago, we kept a cat in the family. But not in Thailand. Recently beat-up stray tomcat seems to have adopted us, and my wife has been feeding it when it turns up first thing in the morning and evening, crying for food. I've been giving it about a third of a cup of milk as I've always done with cats but my nephews are saying that cats shouldn't have milk as it can cause them stomach problem? Is this a new woke problem like multiple allergies in humans that we had never heard of in my day?

Milk is very bad for cats. Water is what they need not milk.

Just now, Photoguy21 said:

Milk is very bad for cats. Water is what they need not milk.

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

14 hours ago, G Rex said:

I do not 'need' to drink beer , but I like it...

Are you joking? Don´t need beer? Never heard of that. Total rubbish! You have to stop with this nonsense.

26 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

If the malnourished cat is lactose intolerant, the majority of cats are, then giving milk is much much worse than water.
 

Water/fluids are required for every living being, but giving milk to most cats will reduce the amount of water in the body, due to diarrhoea, reduce the value of other food as they won’t be digested properly. Depending on the degree of malnourishment it could lead to the cat becoming an ex-cat.

 

You can feed a moderate amount of cooked egg to your cat but not raw and not more than a single egg per day, and not that much to a malnourished cat until they are eating regularly.

One of my cats has a spoonful of yogurt every day whilst we watch movies, she is coming up for 18 years now 😸

1 minute ago, Rimmer said:

One of my cats has a spoonful of yogurt every day whilst we watch movies, she is coming up for 18 years now 😸

I got a gallon of USDA "welfare" mayonnaise with my cheese back in the '80s. Started feeding it to a stray cat and it ate the whole thing in week or two. 

 

My cat will eat a bit of ice cream, but that's about it. 

28 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

My cat will eat a bit of ice cream, but that's about it. 

Ice cream is not good for cats or humans. Most have anti-freeze in them.

My girlfriend thinks it hurts a cat's neck to bend down and eat, so she won't set the bowl of catfood on the floor. She puts something under the bowl to raise it up so the cat can eat without bending its neck.

4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

According to vets I have spoken to, milk is not good for cats. Make of that what you will.

2 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Ice cream is not good for cats or humans. Most have anti-freeze in them.

 

Propylene glycol is non toxic.

7 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Propylene glycol is non toxic.

One of the main ingredients in vape juice

 

"My girlfriend thinks it hurts a cat's neck to bend down and eat, so she won't set the bowl of catfood on the floor. She puts something under the bowl to raise it up so the cat can eat without bending its neck."

 

In the wild, a cat will eat it prey from the ground, not needing a table or any such luxury.

If you feed your cat only dry food, (cat biscuits)  it must have plenty of clean drinking water.

Kittens do very well on their mothers milk, as do all young mammals.

We have a selection of cats, and all are doing well on daily cat biscuits with the occasional treat of Plaa Tu or fish/ meat scraps.

We do not have any milk in the house, only Coffee-mate, or I am sure khun wife would give the cats bowls of milk.

Best food for cats is as they would get in the wild;-  small animals and raw meat/fish.  If they catch a bird or mouse, let them eat it, it will do them good.

38 minutes ago, Robin said:

"My girlfriend thinks it hurts a cat's neck to bend down and eat, so she won't set the bowl of catfood on the floor. She puts something under the bowl to raise it up so the cat can eat without bending its neck."

 

In the wild, a cat will eat it prey from the ground, not needing a table or any such luxury.

If you feed your cat only dry food, (cat biscuits)  it must have plenty of clean drinking water.

Kittens do very well on their mothers milk, as do all young mammals.

We have a selection of cats, and all are doing well on daily cat biscuits with the occasional treat of Plaa Tu or fish/ meat scraps.

We do not have any milk in the house, only Coffee-mate, or I am sure khun wife would give the cats bowls of milk.

Best food for cats is as they would get in the wild;-  small animals and raw meat/fish.  If they catch a bird or mouse, let them eat it, it will do them good.

We have a mother and two of her offspring that hang around our house and I know that one of her litter were borne in our roof space. But there's no way I would call them pets. They are borne and bred 'outdoor cats' and are atypical scroungers. I feed them a small quantity of dry cat meal and leave them to fill their bellies the natural way. 

 

The wife moans about them sometimes but my retort is always 'do you ever see any rodents in the house?'

 

As far as milk is concerned, never. Most cats are lactose intolerant and should only ever drink water.

 

https://www.purina.co.uk/articles/cats/feeding/guides/what-do-cats-drink#:~:text=cats drink milk%3F-,Is milk bad for cats%3F,only be fed in moderation.

7 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly. Perhaps I didn't make my point clear. I was trying to be a little humerous in comparing human allergies that it appears many suffer from nowadays, and domestic animals being dragged onto the bandwagon. A dog in a relative's household is never given meat and is dressed up in stupid costumes. No wonder the poor thing is paranoid. Stop treating pets like humans. Dogs, like cats, are carnivores. They are meat eaters. Regarding our moggy. He is an old Tom that I've named Nelson. When he came to us he looked like he was missing an eye after fighting. My wife treats him like a lord. So Nelson. And I'll still be giving him a drop of milk so he can enjoy his old age.  Much the same as myself. At ninety-one, with a beer. Cheers😉

4 hours ago, Imd8ta said:

One of the main ingredients in vape juice

 

What is vape juice ?

On 3/6/2025 at 12:59 PM, Gandtee said:

Ever since I was born many years ago, we kept a cat in the family. But not in Thailand. Recently beat-up stray tomcat seems to have adopted us, and my wife has been feeding it when it turns up first thing in the morning and evening, crying for food. I've been giving it about a third of a cup of milk as I've always done with cats but my nephews are saying that cats shouldn't have milk as it can cause them stomach problem? Is this a new woke problem like multiple allergies in humans that we had never heard of in my day?

Your nephews are right...👍

On 3/6/2025 at 6:59 PM, Gandtee said:

Ever since I was born many years ago, we kept a cat in the family. But not in Thailand. Recently beat-up stray tomcat seems to have adopted us, and my wife has been feeding it when it turns up first thing in the morning and evening, crying for food. I've been giving it about a third of a cup of milk as I've always done with cats but my nephews are saying that cats shouldn't have milk as it can cause them stomach problem? Is this a new woke problem like multiple allergies in humans that we had never heard of in my day?

Vet would likely tell you that cat also has ADHD.. another woke thing that is now commmon place.

12 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Vet would likely tell you that cat also has ADHD.. another woke thing that is now commmon place.

Most probably.

22 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

I grew up on a dairy and the cats got fresh milk.

On 3/7/2025 at 9:30 AM, Yellowtail said:

Water has no nutritional value. While I agree that giving cats milk rather than cat food/meat protein is not good, I believe milk is better for a malnourished cat than water. They can get water most anywhere. I think eggs are pretty good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

You may believe it but most, if not all, vets would disagree with you.

We have a couple of cats visit daily, I tried to give them milk a couple of times and they were not interested, now I put a small bowl of water with the food and most times they will have a drink.

22 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

You may believe it but most, if not all, vets would disagree with you.

Most, if not all vets sell cat food. 

 

I know it's not great for them, but a cat that only had water would starve to death. 

 

I think one should feed cats cat food.