Cats love milk, don’t they?
Well, their tastebuds may indeed like the fatty feel of dairy products, but that doesn’t mean that their insides always agree with them.
Most cats are lactose intolerant. So, let’s err on the side of caution when it comes to giving cow’s milk (or any other mammal’s, or even veggie alternatives) to our cats.
And when you’re feeding stray or feral cats (or other cats you don’t know), you should leave dairy products out of their diets. Just to be on the safe side. Just give them clean water, or ‘cat milk’ available from supermarkets or vets.
***Kittens should never be given any cow’s milk because their digestive systems are only developing and therefore much more delicate than adult cats’.
2. Cats should be allowed to mate at least once before they get neutered.
NO. That is simply not true.
In fact, studies show that it is good for cats’ health to be neutered as soon as possible, and before their first heat cycle.
For many good reasons, one big reason being that it can help avoid emotional distress in the future: unaltered cats can become stressed when they’re in heat, and that can last for several months a year.
Another good reason to spay female cats before they have kittens is that they will be less likely to get breast cancer later in life.
Also, if you have more than one cat in your household, they tend to get along better once they’re all neutered.
3. Cats are evil plotters. Cats are vengeful. Your cat wants to kill you, right?
Vengeance is a human notion. It is a common mistake to project human qualities onto our pets, and for some reason we tend to attribute many negative ones to cats. Which is a fallacy.
We humans are a storytelling species, and we need logical narratives to make sense of the world. So, often when we notice our cat just sitting and staring at us for a while, we attach a meaning to it (usually based on our own mood at the time). And because cats’ faces don’t often look like they’re smiling or happy, we attach the opposite meaning to their (probably neutral) expression.
Compare the big open mouths of dogs which we readily interpret as smiles (that we have caused to happen😉)
If your kitten pees on your pillow, it’s not because his breakfast was late again and you need to be penalized; no, he is more than likely just marking your pillow as his special place. You might even want to take it as a compliment😉
If your human partner did something similar, it would mean something completely different, and vengeance might indeed be a highly plausible explanation. Just ask one well-known pirate of the Caribbean😉
4. Two male cats can’t be friends or live peacefully in the same house, right?
Wrong. Especially if they’re neutered. Their personality traits have less to do with their sex and more with their genes and socialisation levels. Cats of both sexes can be successfully introduced to each other and become if not cuddle buddies, then at least well-functioning members of the same household.
5. Cats are afraid of cucumbers.
What?
This was a popular meme on YouTube some time ago: many people filmed their cats ‘hilariously’ freaking out at a cucumber suddenly appearing in their peripheral vision.
The truth is that it could’ve been anything, any object that appeared out of nowhere suddenly — your hand, a toy, a dog getting a cucumber facial😉
Because ‘suddenly’ is the clue here: cats really don’t like surprises. They like things to be the way they are; they like predictability. It’s also one of the reasons why they like to see you walk through the door after work and not some stranger. The other one being love, of course😊
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