# Why do cats like milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210 "2002-05-10T01:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CannabisChuckis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@CannabisChuckis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannabisChuckis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/1 "2002-05-10T01:38:34Z")
Why do cats like milk? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/2 "2002-05-10T02:10:52Z")
Because it’s nutritious and delicious? Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/3 "2002-05-10T02:24:39Z")
Fat content. ---
**Author:** ![CannabisChuckis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@CannabisChuckis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannabisChuckis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/4 "2002-05-10T02:29:01Z")
Cat have a _fetish_ for fat? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/5 "2002-05-10T03:00:39Z")
Most carnivores and omnivores like fat. It’s high in calories, and so a lot of animals have developed a taste for it. We do too…there’s a reason that cream tastes better to a lot of people than skim milk, and that expensive cuts of beef are marbled. ---
**Author:** ![Lure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Lure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lure)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/6 "2002-05-10T07:46:50Z")
Most of the cats I had never took more than a lick or 2 when offered.I finally stopped trying. One of my cats ,tho, loved my meat sauce with spaghetti.Go figure,and after you do,you’ll realize that most cats aren’t "normal"in their preferences. Except,of course,that incessant nail sharpening they do on your lap. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/7 "2002-05-10T08:14:58Z")
So the question is, why do we have the idea that cats especially like milk? How do those stereotypes (dog=bone, mouse=cheese, cat=milk) develop anyway? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/8 "2002-05-10T10:05:23Z")
Some of my cats over the years liked it, some don’t. Also from what I hear mice don’t really like cheese. I think it’s Bugs Bunny’s fault and other cartoons that show this pattern. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/9 "2002-05-10T15:08:06Z")
They might like it, but cow’s milk is not very good for cats - it causes indigestion and diarrhea. You can get specially formulated “milk” for cats that won’t make them sick. If you feed a baby kitten (who should still be nursing) only cow’s milk, it will soon die of starvation. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/10 "2002-05-10T16:28:30Z")
They do it just to piss off extreme vegans who like to make claims along the lines of “humans are the only species where the adults drink the milk of another species. Therefore, milk drinking among human adults is unnatural.” I go through litres of milk like I go through oxygen, so I’m waiting for a vegan to visit my house one day and make this claim, whereupon I will smile and nod and plunk down a bowl of milk which my (adult) cat will immediately jump on. I’m not certain if it’s _good_ for him, but he loves it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/11 "2002-05-10T20:12:40Z")
My Border Collie loves milk, he’ll start running around in circles if I have a glass. I have to dump some on the floor just to get peace. He’s not a big beggar for any other food (except steak). My neighbor got a border collie pup, and she’s the same way. SO. It’s not just cats. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/12 "2002-05-10T20:18:25Z")
And cheese isn’t just for mice; every dog I’ve ever had was _nuts_ for cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-like-milk/108210/13 "2002-05-10T21:29:41Z")
My old cat (sadly departed, lives on in my user name) didn’t seem to touch the stuff all that much, he preferred to drink what ever water was lying on the ground or collecting in the rocks in the garden outside the house. Washing the car was a pain because he even went for the soapy water coming off the car. But thats besides the point. Cats supposedly have a very poor sense of taste so maybe the creamier texture of milk appeals to them, come to think of it Mum insisted on us changing over to skimmed milk so maybe thats why old Push Push didn’t drink much of it. Its also why you should warm cat food slightly before you serve it but I never had a chance to test that.