Cat milk

[newname64]

I made the mistake 4 years ago of starting my kitten on cat milk and he's been on it ever since - refuses to drink water. I tried a couple of times to see if he would drink normal milk but this gave him upset stomach. Cat milk is expensive and a friend recently told me that she gives her cat lactofree milk as its the lactose that cats cannot have and is a lot cheaper.

Do any of you do the same and is it ok?

[MrsLeighHalfpenny]

I read that cats get most of their water needs from their catfood, if you feed them wet food. Ours seems to prefer drinking water out of the shower tray over drinking from his bowl. I would start by watering milk down, and reducing the quantity - but be aware that just because the cat isn't draining his water bowl every day doesn't mean he isn't drinking from somewhere, either inside or outside of the house!

[RubbishMantra]

Goats' milk is OK, it's the lactose they can't tolerate. Have you tried watering the milk down?

Don't give him cows' milk though, it will most likely give him the squits.

[newname64]

Thanks for replies. Freddie eats mainly dry food but will give goats milk a try.

[LineRunner]

If you read the packaging of cat milk, it's basically milk with reduced lactose.

[cozietoesie]

I actually bought some lactose-free milk to try (I'm very sensitive to the taste of milk) and it was surprisingly palatable. My own old boy is lactose tolerant but I still haven't given him any milk. He has most of his liquid intake from his wet food and for the rest of it, I'm happy enough that he should continue to drink water.