Yogurt has been in the news a lot because of its live and active cultures that are now being shown to help regulate digestion and give the body good bacteria. The thing to remember is that all of these findings relate to us humans, and the same can’t be said for our feline companions.
Cats don’t typically respond well to yogurt, so you might have trouble even getting them to eat it. If they do get some down, it could cause them upset stomach, diarrhea, or even vomiting. All in all it’s not an enjoyable experience for them, and it’s not doing them any intestinal favors like you think it might.
A better way to get your cat all of what they need is to take the money that you’d be putting into yogurt, and upgrade to a better quality cat food. This will take away all of your concerns on how their digestive system is doing, and will result in a happier and healthier cat all around.
Can I Give My Cat Yogurt? Answer: Not Recommended
Cats don’t need yogurt. Yogurt is a man-made concoction that doesn’t have any place in an animal’s diet. They would not find it out in the wild, and aren’t able to make it on their own, so there’s absolutely no point in giving it to your pet, even with all of the talk of intestinal flora, good bacteria, and all the rest. Cats are perfect, natural creatures that have evolved just fine over thousands and thousands of years without the need of anything even remotely resembling yogurt. So while the thought might be a good one, it’s something you can pass on completely.
There will surely be cat owners that say it’s OK to give your cat yogurt, but this advice is borderline silly, and it just shows that some owners don’t care at all what they give their cats.
Benefits and Drawbacks
The perceived benefit to giving your cat yogurt would be that you think they are getting good bacteria into their system, and helping with their digestion. But this is not the case because they likely won’t be able to handle the yogurt and it might upset their digestive system in the process.
Cats and Dairy
Cats don’t respond well to dairy products, because their made from another animal’s milk. Humans are the only species out there that readily drinks another animal’s milk, and there are a ton of us that are lactose intolerant, even after so many generations have partaken of this practice. But cats haven’t adjusted to this change, and nor should they be made to. Since milk is a primary component of most dairy products, you can avoid the whole lot of them, and stick to a good quality cat food.
Digestive Enzymes and Good Bacteria
A lot of attention has been placed on having good bacteria in your stomach to help with digestion. While this may be true, it’s something that humans need to help balance out the chaotic diets and high levels of stress that can cause digestive imbalances. Not to mention problems with overeating, dehydration, caffeine and other drugs, medications, and processed foods that can wreak havoc on a digestive system. Cats don’t have all of these forces working against them, so they don’t especially need anything extra added to their diet to help balance them out.
Plus a cat’s intestinal make-up is far different from a human’s. Cats are primarily carnivores, where as we’re omnivorous and have a wider variety of foods we need to digest. A cat’s primary source of sustenance should be from protein, which means that they need a different kind of bacteria to help them break down all of that meat and protein.
What Cats Really Need
If you give you cat a high quality cat food they should be all set. It will contain a large amount of protein, but will also have other vitamins, nutrients, and foods that will keep their digestive system running optimally. As an added bonus it means that you don’t have to give your cat anything out of the ordinary, like yogurt. So even though it might cost a little more to feed them the good stuff, you’ll make up for it in time and convenience and save on having to buy them extra supplemental foods.