In 1954, LIFE magazine’s Nat Farbman photographed Fresno dairy farmer Arch Badertscher milking his cows alongside his barn cats Blackie and Brownie.
I love the above photos! My cousin used to work at a dairy and there were cats everywhere, eagerly lapping up all the spills.
You also always read in children’s books about cats loving saucers of milk. But cats are lactose intolerant. They produce the enzyme lactase (which helps them digest lactose) when they are suckling from their mother. After they are weaned, however, the production reduces, giving them a tendency to become lactose intolerant.
My cats have milk some days (Fluffy loves it) but it is always lactose-free milk produced specially for cats. They don’t need it but love it as a treat.
Lovely black and white photos!
None of my cats drink milk nor eat dairy product. They don’t seem to like it which is a good thing as they are intolerant to lactose. They even stay away from milk for cats!