Milk!!

[stacey87]

hi all, i have been looking after a stray cat for about a week now, she is approximately 18 months old and with no sign of any owners (posting online, posters, newsletters etc etc) i am going to keep her, however after a been a stray (uncertain of how long) she is really thin and bony, i have read in a few articles on this forum that i shouldnt feed her cows milk! however in her straying days she must of only had this as a source of fluids ( all houses nearby have milk delivered and left on doorsteps with foil lids on, real easy for a thirsty cat to take off and drink the milk) i have tried iving her water but wont have any of it! i have even tried watering down the milk but she wont entertain it, what can i do?

[PoshPuss]

My dear angel Posh loved cat milk, she had hardly any teeth after a mass dental extraction ( she's been a stray, btw) it's low lactose so cat's can tolerate it. Whiskas do one as does Asda -Tiger cat milk- which is cheaper and just as good x

[pamela81]

i give my 2 the asda tiger tiger cat milk, 3 cartons for the price of 1 whiskas carton and they love it!!

[alexgirl73]

I would suggest the cat milk too, along with a bowl if water. she may take sneaky drinks when you aren't looking lol.

[stacey87]

Ok thanx very much for the info, i shall pop to my local supermarket (morrisons) and hopefully they will do a cheap version that's just as good, i don't want to harm her by giving the wrong milk but at the same time don't want her to go without drinking. When the vet checked her on the second day i had her, he said she had swollen intestines and a shrunken bladder, due to lack of nutrients food etc, hope this gets better with a good diet and a warm house and lots of cuddles.

[Elaine]

Hi, cats are not naturally drawn to water as dogs and humans are. They evolved in the desert and absorbed all the moisture they needed from their prey. Their organs evolved to compensate for this which is why a cats urine is so concentrated.
Many cats are lactose intolerant which can cause many digestive problems, some cats can cope with it as an occasional treat but not on a regular basis.
Cat milk is more of a food than a liquid.
Personally I would just add a little water to her food. A cat who is regularly at a water dish is a cat I would worry about more.
In order to build her up, I would suggest kitten food and feed little and often.

[pamela81]

Elaine, thats exactly what i did when Harris was poorly to make sure he was eating as much of his dinner that he could manage but also getting a bit extra from the watered down milk as well as increasing his water intake

[stacey87]

Ok thanx again for all the info, she certainly likes her grub soon as i put food down she wolfs it all, i know people say leave a bowl of biscuits but if i did that she wud end up sick as she wud eat it all, at the minute shes getting half a pouch of kitten meat mixed with a handful or two of biscuits 3-4 times a day, should i increase that amount or would that be enough to build her up to start with, i don't want to make her poorly by over feeding her as she has been a stray for sometime and is so thin.

[Elaine]

No, that sounds pretty adequate to me. Wet food will give her enough moisture but there is no harm in adding a little water to it. I am not a huge fan of dry food due to the fact that cats dont drink enough and in turn dry food makes the kidneys work harder than they should. Dry food is normally higher in calories too, another reason for so many obese cats, so restricting how much she has will not harm her.

[stacey87]

Yeah i will add some water from now on, I'm just really using the biscuits as a bulking agent untill she gets back to a good weight, then will just use wet food.