Can Cats Eat Yogurt?

Yogurt is one of humans' favorite dairy, which is well-known for its health benefits and easy to eat. Since it’s good for human health, many cat parents wonder if they can feed their cats yogurt?

This time, the answer is a firm YES. Plain yogurt is an excellent snack that you should feed your cats weekly. However, just like us, some cats, especially adult cats, are lactose tolerant. Hence, you should notice some hidden hazards when feeding your cat dairy products.

Keep reading to learn more about yogurts' benefits on your cats’ health and what to watch out for when cats eat yogurt.

Unlike other dairy products, yogurt has live, active bacteria cultures in it. They play a crucial role in breaking down the lactose from milk into glucose and galactose. It means the intact lactose left is very little, making yogurt safe for lactose-tolerance cats (and even humans).

Therefore, even if your cats are lactose tolerant, it’s still safe to consume yogurt in an appropriate amount.

The powerful bacteria in charge of breaking down the lactose is actually familiar to us with the name probiotics. Since probiotics have a long list of health benefits, we are more ensure feeding yogurt to cats is a great choice.

Probiotics will help boost cats’ immunization systems by supporting the development of natural antibodies. They also prevent the growth of harmful bacteria to ensure only good bacteria are left to thrive in intestinal tracts.

Thanks to the unique fermentation process of producing yogurt, calcium, and protein from the milk base are saved and become a great source of these essentials. Plus, yogurt has several helpful vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B, magnesium, and potassium, which are good for bones and red blood cells.

You can feed your cat yogurt daily. It will be an excellent part of your cat's diet with the proper amount. It’s best to feed yogurt to your cat in their morning routine, so they can have time to process it during the day. Especially if your cat has a problem with its appetite, it plays as a delicious entreé.

You should only feed them with a teaspoon of yogurt daily. And don’t exceed 3 to 5 tablespoons in a week.

If this is your first time feeding your cat yogurt, observe whether they get diarrhea or are allergic to yogurt. Sometimes, flavored yogurt, even vanilla yogurt, is added with sweeteners, fructose, juice concentrator, or syrup which are very dangerous to your dog instead. Plain yogurt should be the only choice since flavored yogurt is often high in sugar.

A small tip for you - you can smash fresh strawberries or blueberries and put them in plain yogurt to diversify the yogurt flavor for your cat.