cat nutrition

Question
our one and half year old cat enjoys milk and hald and half.  we have been giving her maybe two tablespoons a day.  any problems with that?  also feeding the cat IAMS Original with chicken dry cat food.  is this a good nutritional cat food?  if not any recommendations.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi David,

Feeding a cat milk is perfectly fine, especially if it is only a small amount at a time.  However, cats (and most other adult mammals) can have some degree of lactose intolerance because adult mammals no longer produce the enzyme which breaks down lactose.  If your cat seems perfectly fine after drinking the milk and never vomits or has diarrhea as a result, then there is no reason not to continue giving it to her.  Skim milk, 1%, and/or half and half will also be less likely to cause problems because it doesn't have nearly as much fat as whole milk, which can also cause diarrhea.  I occasionally give mine skim milk, as much as several tablespoons at a time, and occasinally give yogurt as a treat also.

Regarding your question about IAMS.  Please read the information that I have posted on my AllExperts expert page.  You will also find some links to further information.

http://www.allexperts.com/ep/3490-83830/Cat-Food/KC.htm

In addition, please read some of my past answers dealing with commercial pet foods.  If you can't find the information, just reply back to this and I will gladly insert it all into an answer for you.  

In a nutshell, IAMS, Science Diet, etc. are NOT premium foods.  The standards for the pet food industry are shockingly horrible and in order to truly know what goes into your cat's food, you must purchase premium foods that contain human-grade ingredients...otherwise the food can and will contain trash ingredients, chemicals, and foods that are so unfit for human consumption that even animals shouldn't be allowed to eat it.  It's no wonder that so many products have been recalled.  Most of the large commercial pet food companies literally buy the cheapest ingredients they can find so that they will have the highest markup possible on their products...thus making a huge profit at the expense of your pet's health.  If you switch to a truly premium human-grade, by-product free food, you should see a difference in your pets overall health.  The main things you will notice will be an improved coat with less shedding and they will eat less food per meal and will stay full for a longer period of time.  You also only need to feed twice daily but can certainly give some treats between meals if you like.  Please also see my past answers for very detailed information about feeding amounts and feeding times.

...hope this helps!  If not, just reply back and I'll do my best to provide more answers.