Ginger tabby almost drowns himself in cow's milk. Diarrhea should follow.

Well, cats love cow's milk as it is fatty. And this little ginger tabby loves milk more than most cats as he almost drowns himself in it as he submerges his head in the stuff. He comes up for air with his head covered. I think he hasn't learned yet that cow's milk tastes nice but it isn't so nice for the digestive tract.

P.S. Maybe he is fishing around for something in the milk. I am unsure. I think this is about youthful exuberance in finding a food they love but not having experienced the downsides.

Back in the day, say around a hundred years ago and even more recent than that, hundreds of millions of cat owners thought that giving their domestic cat cow's milk was the thing to do. Not nowadays. These days we are more educated generally and in respect of the feline diet. Did I say that people are more educated nowadays than a hundred years ago? I am not sure that that is true but let's move on.

Certainly, the internet has educated hundreds of millions of people about cat welfare including their diet. We know that the large majority of domestic cats are lactose intolerant and therefore they are intolerant of cow's milk. This is because they lack the enzyme to break it down. It causes bloating and diarrhoea.

The same thing happens with people. Many humans are turning away from cow's milk which is the wise thing to do. I am one of those people. Cow's milk causes bloating for me. I use oat milk but there are many alternatives these days. You can buy specially prepared milk for cat but it is very expensive.

Other symptoms of lactose intolerance may include:

• tummy pain or discomfort.
• bloating.
• farting.
• diarrhoea or constipation.
• feeling sick or being sick.

The best solution is to give them water but ironically tap water sometimes doesn't taste very good for cats. That's why they tend to prefer rainwater in a paddle even if it is muddy compared to tap water in a bowl.

Tap water contains anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-parasite chemicals such as chloride. It cleans up the water but as domestic cats have very highly tuned senses including a great sense of smell, they don't like the smell of chlorine which they pick up but we don't.

Apparently if you leave it standing for a while it helps to allow the chlorine content to evaporate. I don't know if that is true but a good source told me that information.

Ginger tabby almost drowns himself in cow's milk. Diarrhea should follow. Screenshot.

Do you use antibiotics for cat diarrhoea?

Dr Bruce Fogle says that cat owners often ask if he will use antibiotics to treat their cat's diarrhoea. The answer is that the vet needs to know the species of bacteria in the gut to be treated or if the intestines are severely damaged. Administering antibiotics in other circumstances to treat diarrhoea risks upsetting the good bacteria in the stomach and making things worse. A vet might suggest probiotics.

Do you use antibiotics for cat diarrhea?
No unless you know the species of bacteria to treat.
Photo: in public domain.

ANTIBIOTICS FOR CAT BITES

CAN PUMPKIN HELP CATS WITH DIARRHEA?

Your vet will tell you the causes of diarrhoea. There are many possibilities. If your cat goes to the toilet outside it can hard to know if she has diarrhoea. Vomiting often accompanies diarrhoea and the remains of poop stuck to the fur on the cat's backside is a giveaway.

Ambulance sent out for cat with diarrhea

In the UK there is a well-publicized crisis unfolding in the accident and emergency (A & E) departments of hospitals.

There are many reasons for the huge increase in the numbers of people presenting themselves at A & E, one of which is that the NHS 111 system is failing in that it directs too many people to A & E because it is run by an algorithm (a computer program) and the computer programme plays safe and defaults to A & E.

The NHS 111 system is a telephone, call center helpline to which people who have suffered an accident can telephone for advice. It used to be manned by nurses but is no longer.

The employees at NHS 111 are laypeople who are briefly trained and who rely on their computers to make decisions (to provide the advice to the caller).

An anonymous whistle blower disclosed that on one occasion, "One call handler sent an ambulance to a cat with diarrhoea". This shows that both the call handlers and the computer algorithm are unable to consistently make the right decisions thereby highlighting the failure of the system.

The government now understands where a major reason for the A & E crisis lies - thanks to a cat.

I wonder what the doctors at the hospital did about the cat's diarrhea ;) .