Cats suffer H5N1 brain infections, blindness, death after drinking raw milk ( arstechnica.com )

stembolts , 2 months ago

Annoying, since cats shouldn't be drinking cows milk anyway. But I guess most people with cats don't know that. Poor cats. Died due to lack of knowledge of their owner.

The age-old myth that milk and cats go hand-in-hand has officially been debunked by veterinarians and cat experts. Regardless of how tasty milk may be to your cat, this is bad news for their stomach and digestive system. As it turns out, most cats are lactose intolerant.
Is milk bad for cats?

Just like humans, some cats can’t digest lactose, a milk sugar that’s found in dairy. The only time in a cat’s life when its body actually has enough of the enzyme lactase to properly digest lactose is at birth and during its early years of life. This is so the cat can feed off of its mother’s milk. After that, less and less lactase is produced, resulting in potentially increased digestive complications.

“Even though some cats can tolerate milk and seem to enjoy it, cow’s milk just isn’t good for cats,” says Dr. Gary Richter, a veterinary health expert with Rover. “Cats don’t need dairy milk, and the potential problems outweigh the potential benefits.” Here are some other signs that your cat is trying to tell you something.