# Are Cats Milk Mutants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531 "2006-12-17T19:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531/1 "2006-12-17T19:01:36Z")
Some adult humans can drink milk without symptoms because of a mutation to a gene that never sends out the signal to turn off the lactase-making ability at about the age of weaning. I thought this was unique to humans. But an article in the [Hamilton Spectator](http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1166224212404&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620) says that cats are more similar to people than we thought: > [@](#): > > The availability of cows’ milk turned a useless mutation into an invaluable one. Natural selection would favour people with the lactose-digesting gene switched on permanently, because they could profit from the calories, vitamins and minerals in milk. > > Many European cat breeds show a similar mutation that allows them to enjoy milk as adults, while oriental breeds, like most Asian humans, are lactose-intolerant. Is this true? Can anyone provide me any cites on this? ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531/2 "2006-12-17T19:15:23Z")
My adult silver tabby (not pedigree) drinks milk and doesn’t appear to be suffering any effects… ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531/3 "2006-12-17T22:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] SIs this true? Can anyone provide me any cites on this? [/QUOTE] I’ve never heard that. If you google “cats lactose intolerant” you’ll find tons of site supporting the fact that cats are generally lactose intolerant (and are more often lactose intolerant than humans). Like humans though, the level of lactose intolerance can vary, so some cats can consume _some_ dairy with few noticeable effects. My one cats gets very gassy, but that’s about it. Wikipedia mentions the “mutation” near the bottom of their page on lactose intolerance: > [@](#): > > Many global cat breeds (Asian breeds in particular) share the mammalian lactose sensitivity, unlike many European breeds that have a mutation similar to the European human mutation. But it doesn’t have a cite or footnote either. I’d be curious to see that too. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531/4 "2006-12-17T22:37:27Z")
Tolerance of cow’s milk is certainly not universal among American cats. I rescued a stray who got the runs from cow’s milk even at 10 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![MartinL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@MartinL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MartinL)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cats-milk-mutants/384531/5 "2006-12-18T09:36:22Z")
I really do not want to know what may have caused that mutation to jump from humans to cats! :eek: