I can never leave a yogurt unattended when my cat is around, because whatever flavor or variety it is he will try to stick his head into the pot and take a lick. But can cats eat yogurt safely? Yogurt for cats is not dangerous in small amounts, but your kitty gets all the nutrients he needs from his regular carnivorous cat food. And if he eats too much he might upset his stomach.
Content
- Can cats eat yogurt?
- What about kittens?
- Lactose intolerance in cats
- Possible benefits of yogurt for cats
- Different types of yogurt
Cats are natural carnivores and most of their diet should consist of meat. This doesn’t mean that yogurt has no beneficial nutrients, but your cat should already get all these good vitamins and minerals from their main food. Without the added worries over lactose intolerance and upset tummies!
Can Kittens Eat Yogurt?
Kittens can digest lactose because they rely on their mother’s milk to survive. But as they get older and there is no longer a need for them to consume milk. So they stop producing the enzyme which enables them to digest. As a result, many cats go on to become lactose intolerant.
Kittens should be able to eat a small amount of yogurt as long as it is plain and does not contain artificial sweeteners. However, that said we wouldn’t advise giving them any. It won’t have any additional nutritional benefits, and may upset their delicate new stomachs.
Lactose Intolerance in Cats
Some cats are lactose intolerant and have stomach pains or loose bowels after eating dairy products. However, this might not stop them enjoying an occasional yogurt based snack.
Yogurt contains natural bacteria live bacteria cultures called Streptococcus thermophiles and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which are able to break down lactose in lactic acid. Seeing as the lactose, which is the part of milk that most cats are unable to digest, has been turned into lactic acid the cat should be able to digest the yogurt without any issues.
The Downsides of Yogurt As A Kitty Snack
Plain yogurt should be fine as long as your cat isn’t allergic. But, you should never feed your cat flavored yogurt or yogurt which contains artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Too much sugar can make your cat sick, and anything artificial could be quite dangerous.
Greek Yogurt
Unflavoured Greek yogurt should be fine for cats to consume in small quantities. Although ideally, the yogurt should be full of live cultures and healthy bacteria.
So, you may want to try a few different brands to see which one is best for your feline friends. Avoid flavored Greek yogurt and check the ingredients for anything artificial.
Blueberry Yogurt
Cats wouldn’t necessarily choose to eat blueberries in the wild. But a small portion of blueberries is safe for them to eat and they may have similar health benefits for cats that they do for humans. Some cat food companies are even adding ‘blueberry extract’ in their pet food because it works as a natural food preservative without all the synthetic properties which can be bad for your cat.
Vanilla Yogurt
Vanilla in itself isn’t toxic for cats and they are able to eat small amounts of it. But many cats won’t like the taste of vanilla and so they may not wish to eat it.
Vanilla yogurt is likely to contain vanilla flavoring which may contain other ingredients that are bad for your cats.
Strawberry Yogurt
Strawberries are nontoxic for cats. But, they don’t contain many health benefits for cats and they are quite high in natural sugar so too many regular strawberries may cause stomach problems. Strawberry yogurt is likely to contain a lot of sugar, and this sugar is likely to upset your cats stomach and cause other health issues. Strawberry yogurt may also contain additives which could be harmful to your cat’s health.
Does Yogurt Have Any Medical Benefits For Cats?
Here are a few of the conditions people believe could be helped by yogurt, and I’ll share whether it’s a fact or a myth below:
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Kidney disease
Diarrhea
The probiotics and active cultures in yogurt are potentially beneficial for your cat’s digestive and bowel health. So, small amounts of yogurt can possibly be used to treat some causes of diarrhea and other digestive issues. However, further study is required in this area to confirm exactly which probiotics are beneficial to which species.
Constipation
The probiotics in yogurt can help to prevent and solve digestive issues like constipation. However, there’s a risk it also won’t help, or could make things worse.
Kidney Disease
There aren’t currently any studies looking at how yogurt affects cats with kidney problems. So, don’t start offering it as part of your cat’s diet without speaking to your vet.
This article was very interesting. I have a cat who loves yogurt. He eats a good size teaspoon of yogurt a day. My milk is lactate. Is that okay for him to have a little each day.
Very informative article. Yogurt is good for our intestine I am sure it is also good for our cat. Me and my cat have yogurt every day now it is 1 year now. She loves eating yogurt and egg yolk, both is her favorite.
My cat loves yogart I give him a teaspoon once a day I try and make sure its Greek plain yogart but by accident I got vanilla Greek yogart and gave my cat a teaspoon after realizing that it wasn’t plain. I read here that it can cuz my cat problems and make him sick he dosent show any signs of it making him sick and his pooh is hard.So maybe it only happens to some cats not all.
My cat is treated for diarrhoea. Can I give yogurt to cat.
My cats eat plain organic natural yogurt every morning with me and I add berries and seeds to mine even have ground almonds at times and they are very healthy. My vet said that whatever they are eating is just fine 🙂
My cat is crazy about yogourt and he has no any problem with stomach.
I am so stressed. I feed my two cats high grade kitty food with blueberry. I use special litter because their skin is sensitive. I work hard at their health, and at 14 years old, they both look 6 years OLD!
But what Yogurt do you guys USE? I cant find ZERO SUGAR! I have a Greek yogurt that is unflavored. I has no added artificial sweeteners. It has zero FAT! It is the healthiest yogurt I could find.
But it has 6g of sugar. This is natural sugar and the Oikos 0% Fat Unflavored Yogurt is the brand. Any yogurt I looked at had sugar of some degree. If it was Sugar Free, it had artificial sugar added.
If it has No Added Sugar, it has natural sugar in it. So how do I WIN? Do you all have stores that have a better selection than my STORE?
Or is the 6g of natural sugar ok to use and won’t harm my kitty GIRLS? If it is still bad, can so done suggest a exact brand that meets all the specifications? Thank you!
Liberte 10% m.f. plain vet said higher fat content is easier for cats to digest. Might be hard to find,tho, i’m in Montreal and liberte can be found in most of Canada. not sure about the states.!!
Didn’t hear anybody ask can cats eat black cherry yogirt?
Very Nice and informative article. Yogurt is no doubt rich in vitamins and potassium. My cat also like yogurt. When I eat yogurt , my cat also likes to eat it with me. I give him 1 or 2 teaspoons here and there.
I worked for an animal compounding pharmacy. Cats DO like vanilla flavoring…it’s actually a recommended flavoring for some more bitter medications.
the lactose has been changed if you use scd vogurt google scd diet and you can make your own vogurt
Thanks for the detailed information! Is it ok to give a cat unsweetened plain coconut yogurt? Thank you!
Hi
Our 14 year old cat has not been herself. Think she is constipated.
She does drink liquid but sometimes
After that brings it up.
Can we crush the cat pellets and add a little bit of plain yoghurt to relieve her of constipation which i think it is.
Please can you help me with suggestions.
One of my cats absolutely loves strawberry yogurt every time i eat it she basically reaches her paws up to have some but i only give her a sliver of it off the spoon when im finished with it and it isnt often
MY kitten loves to eat Yogurt, I am currently treating her for FIP and when she eats the yogurt she dosen’t even know I am injecting her GS meds