Dear Dr. Forsythe: Our 9-month-old kitten is mad for milk but I have always heard it’s not a good idea to let cats have milk. Is this still true and/or are there any milk substitutes out there to satisfy this craving he has? Is a little bit OK? We have to fight him from drinking the children’s milk! Thanks for your advice, we love your column.
Just Wondering
Dear Wondering: I realize it is hard to resist the big shiny marble eyes of that pretty pussy cat when it begs for milk, and you are not the first person to bond with a cat through dairy products. Many owners have trained both cats and dogs to lick the ice-cream bowl after you take the last bite, however, I do not recommend dairy products for pets. Queens generally wean their kittens at around 3 weeks of age when their teeth begin to protrude and feel like sharp needles making nursing very painful. During this period, I have my clients mix KMR milk replacer with dry kitten food to create a gruel kittens root around in to eat. Over the next few weeks, I have them lower the percentage of milk replacer in the gruel until the pet is only eating the dry kibble mixed with wet food as well.
Most kittens and cats do not tolerate cow’s milk or cream very well. The high fat content coupled with the foreign proteins can cause diarrhea, gas, and bloating. For this reason, I would recommend sticking to a premium dry kitten food for the first year of life. Most foods come in dry and wet form. You can “top dress” the dry food with a spoonful of the wet food to give your cat a special treat. Perhaps this method of feeding will keep your little motor-mouthed kitten happy and satisfied and out of the children’s Captain Crunch. If not, we may have to approach it from a behavior standpoint an get a spray bottle when the pet gets too close to the cereal bowl. Let me know how things go!
Dr. F.
Dear Dr. Forsythe: My dog Lucy has a cruciate rupture which she got stepping off the sofa. The trouble is my wife and I can’t agree on whether or not to get the expensive surgery to fix her knee. One veterinarian recommended surgery to repair it, but when we got a second opinion, that doctor said it would heal “fairly well” on its own. So far, she is still limping even though we are giving her Rimadyl. We thought since we read your column we would ask you for an opinion about the two different thoughts. Maybe we should also trim her weight down from her current 70 pounds, could be making her limp worse?
Lucy’s humans
Dear Lucy’s humans: Unless a dog weighs less than 15 pounds, cruciate ligament ruptures are virtually always a surgical disease. This means for small dogs, some veterinarians give the option of letting the pet’s knee “scar down” on its own rather than go through surgery. Although not ideal, the thought behind this is since small dogs do not bare much weight on their knee, the impact will not be as great if they develop arthritic changes in the knee by letting it heal the best it can without proper surgical care.
However, in regular sized dogs, surgery is necessary to remove the frayed pieces of the broken ligament from inside the joint. If they are left inside to “heal on their own” they flare up and cause spurs to form and the knee will never heal in a clean, healthy way. In my opinion, the only way to offer Lucy a great prognosis is to take advantage of one of the excellent surgical techniques available to repair the knee and make is stable and fully functional so Lucy will have full range and stability for many years to come. Although the procedure is costly and it is likely when one knee requires this, there is also a good chance her other knee will eventually go through the same injury at some point, there is no question correcting it properly is the best option for Lucy. Thanks for your question.
Dr. F.
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