Home · Entertainment · Sep 9 archive
Why Cats Should Never Drink Milk, According to New Research
Confirmed
In Short: Cats should avoid milk after weaning, as their bodies stop producing the enzyme needed to digest it, debunking a long-standing myth.
While cats and milk have long been associated, research now reveals that cats should not drink milk after weaning, as their bodies stop producing the necessary enzyme to digest it.
Like all mammals, cats start life drinking milk from their mother. However, around 6–12 weeks after weaning, they stop producing the enzyme lactase, which is required to digest lactose in milk.
This natural process, which begins in kittenhood, means that milk is no longer a necessary part of a cat's diet after this stage.
Historically, this arrangement led to the association between cats and milk, which has been further cemented through cultural depictions in art, books, movies, and cartoons.
Despite this, past kittenhood, milk is completely unnecessary for cats, and feeding it to them can lead to digestive issues such as diarrhea and vomiting.
What's still developing
- While it’s not surprising that cats and milk have persisted as an unquestioned combination, research now tells us cats shouldn’t be drinking milk at all While it’s not surprising that cats and milk have persisted as an unquestioned combination, research now tells us cats shouldn’t be drinking milk at all Cats have a long history with humans, going back more than 9,000 years.
- In his 1877 book on cats, Scottish doctor Gordon Stables insisted cats need two bowls – “one for water and the other for milk” – and suggested porridge and milk as an excellent feline breakfast.
- There’s even the classic trope of the scruffy street cat being rescued from the rain to enjoy a saucer of milk from a kindly stranger.
- “We’re told by the White House staff that we should lower our window shades,” says Gram Slattery, White House national security correspondent for Reuters.
- “I see those catering vehicles up against the side of Air Force One … I have never seen that before,” says the AP’s chief White House photographer, Alex Brandon, in the trailer.
- In a candid admission posted to X on Saturday morning, the company said it needs to completely rethink how and when it tells the public about instances of its AI models going off the rails and acting on real-world targets.
- It's the kind of scenario that AI safety researchers have warned about for years now: give an agent enough autonomy and enough compute, and it might start doing things nobody asked it to do, in places nobody expected it to go.
- Your premier source for technology news, insights, and analysis.