Is Goat Milk Safe for Dogs?

Many people are promoting raw diets for dogs, and you may see raw goat milk listed as an important part of a raw canine diet. But is goat milk (raw or pasteurized) safe for your dog? Just because your dog may love sneaking a lick of your ice cream and obviously enjoys the taste of milk products, should you intentionally feed your dog goat milk?

As with humans, it’s important that your pet gets a balanced and nutritional diet. Goat milk and goat dairy products can play an important role in getting essential fatty acids and vitamins into your pet's system.

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Is Raw Goat Milk Safe For Dogs?

When milk is collected from goats, it is in its most natural state. Raw. This raw goat milk contains lots of valuable vitamins, minerals, enzymes, proteins, fatty acids, probiotics and electrolytes. Many people prefer to drink their milk raw because of all of these benefits.

But milk that is not from a healthy goat, or milk that is not processed by a clean facility with protocol cleanliness can be contaminated by bacteria. Because of the possibility of contamination and the prevalence of confinement dairies, much of the milk in America is pasteurized. This is because the pasteurization process is designed to eliminate any potential pathogens that have infected the milk.

Unfortunately, the process of pasteurization also kills many of the healthy enzymes and probiotics due to their heat sensitivity.

Here at Goat Milk Stuff, we drink raw milk because we know the health of our goats and that they are raised on a pasture with sunshine, milked cleanly, with the raw milk product chilled immediately.

Here in Indiana, where the Goat Milk Stuff farm is located, it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption, but through a pet food license, dairy goat farms can sell raw milk to deer farms, dog breeders, cat rescues and other pet lovers. We don't sell goat milk currently, but we used to regularly getting reports that these animals enjoy raw milk and thrived with it.

Our guidance on feeding your dogs raw milk is consistent with our guidance on whether it is safe for humans to drink raw milk.

1. Know the source of the milk.
2. Check the goat dairy is Grade A registered.
3. Ensure that the milk was chilled after milking and has remained chilled.

If you can’t verify this information, then feeding your dog pasteurized milk might be a better alternative.

Is Goat Milk Better Than Cow Milk For Dogs?

If you want to add dairy to your dog’s diet, it is important to determine which type of milk you are going to feed them, and be consistent with it.

Goat milk and cow milk are the primary options if you are looking to introduce milk to your dog's nutritional plan. In our opinion, goat milk is healthier for a dog when compared to cow's milk. This is largely because goat milk is higher in some nutrients that offer great benefit to your pet’s health.

Studies have shown that goat milk is richer than cow milk in essential fatty acids (such as linoleic and arachidonic), vitamin B6, vitamin A, selenium, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

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This is because goat milk is naturally homogenized and does not contain agglutinin.

Is Goat Milk Easy For Dogs To Digest?

The smaller fat globules in goat milk make it easier for a dog to digest since the digestive enzymes can more easily break down a smaller fat globule than a larger one. But this isn’t the only reason why dogs can easier digest goat milk. Goat milk has a high number of short and medium-chain fatty acids too.

Goat Milk Improves Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance is something that many believe is an affliction that only impacts us humans; however an estimated 0.2% of dogs are lactose intolerant, with it being one of the most common food allergens for your canine pet.

Lactose (milk sugars) occurs in both cow milk and goat milk, so when your dog has a deficiency of lactase (the enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose), your dog can experience painful symptoms ranging from gas and bloating to diarrhea.

Goat milk is less likely than cow milk to produce a lactose intolerant response, which means if your dog has experienced intolerance before through cows milk, goat milk could be the answer.

Is Goat Milk Just For Adult Dogs?

We are great believers that newborn puppies should always be fed their mother’s milk. But in the instances that a puppy is orphaned, or their mother simply can not produce milk, then goat milk can be a great solution to provide new pups with the best opportunity to grow up big and strong.

We raise puppies here at Goat Milk Stuff, and from time to time may supplement the pups with goat milk if their mother doesn’t produce enough milk.

When feeding puppies goat milk, we recommend using a syringe; with the amount and timing of the feed depending on the puppies’ age and weight.

Conversely, we don’t recommend cow’s milk for puppies or young dogs because it can be harder on their digestive system and can lead to upset stomachs.

Is Goat Milk Safe For Sick Dogs?

Older dogs and dogs that are recovering from an illness can benefit greatly from the easy-to-digest nature and the nutritional composition of goat milk. In fact, it is common to find directions for convalescing dogs on goat milk-based formula.

You’ve probably heard the recommendation that if a human is taking a round of antibiotics, they should also eat yogurt or other fermented foods to help repopulate the gut with healthy bacteria. The same is true for your dog, so if your dog is sick, goat milk yogurt can help to settle stomachs and help speed up your dog's recovery.

As with humans, whenever you introduce a new food source to your dog, make sure to micro-dose initially so that you can check for any allergic reactions or symptoms.

Goat Milk Soap May Help Prevent Cancer Risks In Dogs

Inside the bodies of all mammals (human and canine), oxidation is a necessary part of life. Unfortunately, oxidation has some harmful side effects such as the production of free radicals. These free radicals can lead to skin cancer, premature aging and other degenerations. Goat milk is high in antioxidants such as vitamin A and selenium. Using goat milk soap made with healthy goat milk may possibly help to protect the skin of your dog from cancer cells.

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How To Make My Dogs Coat Shiny?

A little known benefit of goat milk is that it is great for keeping your dog’s coat healthy and shiny. It can also provide all of the essential oils needed to improve the suppleness of your dog's skin.

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Check out our Scented Goat Milk Soap for Pets, and our Unscented Goat Milk Soap for Pets if you are looking to really treat your dog to a shampoo that’ll do wonders for his or her skin.

Here at Goat Milk Stuff, we are not vets and nor do we profess to be; and the intention of this blog is not to advise you on health or nutrition when it comes to your pet. Please combine our view on topics such as this with broader and balanced research.