# Water



## halfpin21 (Nov 22, 2005)

This may sound like a stupid question but I am curious to know if our furbabies can drink anything else other than water...I was thinking maybe milk. This is my first so I figured I would ask first (please don't think I'm stupid) We've only been giving him water anyway but it's good to know. BTW, he's 2 years old.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

Milk is not a good idea for pets- their bodies aren't able to digest it properly. In most animals it causes diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. 

I wouldn't give my guy anything but water and ice cubes.


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

> Milk is not a good idea for pets- their bodies aren't able to digest it properly. In most animals it causes diarrhea and sometimes vomiting.
> 
> I wouldn't give my guy anything but water and ice cubes.[/B]


 :lol: She's right. Never give milk to a dog or cat. For premie puppies/kittens there is a formula you can buy. Cottage cheese and yogurt are OK as ocassional additions to a meal.


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## bklynlatina (Nov 16, 2005)

Water and Ice cubes are all Chulita gets.


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## halfpin21 (Nov 22, 2005)

Thanks guys! We were just curious but we're sticking to the water...I am scared to try the cottage cheese or yogurt since I don't eat either and wouldn't know what to get him. haha


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## MaxMommy (Nov 1, 2005)

I worked with a raw food nutritionist that said cow milk/products are not easily digested by humans, either. She said just look at the size of the cow compared to the human. Goat milk/cheeses are said to be much healthier.

I caught my Malti licking the decaf sugar free ice tea out of my glass, he seemed to like it...don't know if it's any difference from water....its basically artificially flavored water. Max doesn't like yogurt but he LOVES chedar cheese.


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## sassy's mommy (Aug 29, 2005)

The others are correct in that cows milk is hard to digest (even for humans.) However, I think, key work here is think,







that goats milk is pretty easily tolerated. I have never given it to Sassy. I have caught her taking a sip of my sweet/white coffee a couple of times when I forgot and left the cup sitting on the hearth of the fireplace. The caffeine is not good for them, but from our experience a little taste here and there has not hurt Sass.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I was wondering about the milk too. I always heard it's not good for them but how much this is true I wonder. Alex seems to love milk. Caught him licking milk out of my glass on the coffee table. It was not much because I caught him right away and it did not hurt him. Now years ago when our dachshund was pregnant I made a mixture of milk with something else in it, don't remember what for her to drink. It was a recipe that I took out of a book giving information about what to feed pregnant bitches. She drank that mixture until the pups were weaned and then she did not want anything more to do with it. At one time in Saudi Arabia we took in a stray. The poor thing was hungry and right away did not have anything else to feed him then milk. He laped that milk like he was starving. You could see his little belly growing in size. I stoped him at some point because I thought he is going to explode. He did not get sick from the milk and had no diarrea. By the way, what I heard also is that it is ok for cats.


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## ButterCloudandNoriko (Aug 26, 2004)

Well, SOMETIMES I give them Orange juice...eeehehehe. But water is crucial for them. It's the only thing they take in that provides them Potassium and other electrolytes.


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

I always remember when I was growing up that my mother would always give our cat a saucer of milk every day and even the dog loved a good lap of milk too.
Nowadays the vets all say cows' milk if not readily tolerated by our pet because they cannot digest the lactose and it can cause inflamation of the stomach lining and also the intestines hence the diarrhea and vomiting. I am not sure why dogs and cats are any different these days to back then except maybe they might be a lot more pampered or it could be that the cows are fed differently to back then, gee I have no idea, but I will say this if your pet does get an upset stomach from cows' milk you better hope it doesn't poop in the house because it stinks something terrible, and I am speaking form experience too. I had 4 Burmese cats at one stage and I only ever gave them milk once and I paid dearly for that mistake, they stunk the entire house out, it was dreadful, I kid you not, we couldn't get the stink out of the house for hours it was that bad.






















There is a pet milk available at pet stores and some supermarkets as well and this is supposed to be lactose free, if you really want to give your pets milk product then you could try that one.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Cat poop stinks without them having diarrhea







so I believe you, it must have been horrible.


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