Friday is Cat Day - Is Cheese Good for Cats

Is your cat or dog a beggar? I’ve had cats all my life and never was there a beggar in the family. Until now. Holly has turned begging into an art form.

She never begs when I have my breakfast or dinner, but come lunchtime she positions herself near to me and looks at me.

When I ignore her, she shifts position, letting me know … “Hello, I’m here. How much longer is this going to take?”

When I’m eating something that I know is not good for cats, she can look at me all she wants, I won’t budge, but if I have something that cats can eat I (eventually) give in.

And Holly knows this. She knows that if she gazes at me long enough, something will come her way.

And this is exactly what happened on Wednesday, with regretful results.

I was eating a sandwich with cheese. Holly was sitting on the floor, looking at me, begging me with her eyes to give her a piece. So I did. Followed by another piece, and another piece and another.

Everything was fine, until the next day. Holly vomited in the morning, again around lunch, and three more times throughout the day. I felt so sorry for the poor thing. She kept to herself in my bedroom, she didn’t respond to anything, even went hiding under my bed.

I came close to calling the vet when I suddenly remembered her eating cheese the previous day, so I Googled “Is cheese good for cats”. Turns out, it isn’t. Cats are lactose intolerant. While kittens might enjoy watered down milk, grown cats should not be given milk, nor cheese, or any type of dairy.

Fortunately, it was just a 24-hour thing and no visit to the vet was required. Yesterday Holly was back to her usual self: lounging on my bed, chasing flies, talking to the walls, and all those other kitty things.

Goes to show though, we might love our cats, and have their best interest at heart, but sometimes we make mistakes. So, when in doubt, don’t do it or research it.