Can Puppies Benefit From Drinking Human Breastmilk?

Newborn human babies benefit immensely from drinking human breast milk. But can its benefits also help dogs? Can you give your dog breast milk from humans?

Well, the short answer is no. Human milk works well for humans and dog milk works well for dogs, and it’s not recommended to mix either of those things up. Here’s why:

Proteins

The kinds of proteins that you can find in breast milk may prompt an allergic reaction from a dog.

Obesity

There is a lot of fat and sugar in milk. Yes, it’s natural, but it’s still sugar, and it’s still fat. This can cause unwanted weight gain in dogs, and even just a few pounds of extra weight puts them at risk for a huge number of diseases.

Lactose

Most dogs are lactose intolerant. They just don’t have the lactase necessary to process and digest it. This can cause stomach upsets and other issues, leading to vomiting and more.

Listeriosis

This is very rare, but breastfeeding a dog with human milk exposes them to listeriosis, which is highly damaging to senior and young dogs, or others with compromised immunity.

If your dog consumes a small amount of breast milk by accident, you don’t need to panic, as it will likely not have severe adverse effects other than some gassiness. But don’t actively feed them human breast milk; it will do more harm than good!

Feature Image Source: Pixabay