Cheese as a treat, yes!
Cheese is a tasty food that dogs love. No problem, therefore, to give them a few (small) pieces from time to time as a treat or to coat a medicine that they would refuse to swallow alone.
Cheese sparingly
If giving cheese does not generally cause problems for the dog, it is still necessary to limit its consumption because:
- Cheese (excluding fresh cheeses) is often rich in high-calorie lipids (fats) that can unbalance your four-legged friend's diet and cause him to gain weight.Imagine that around 30 grams of Emmental alone already represent almost 20% of the daily caloric intake of a small 5kg dog! To prevent him from gaining weight, it would therefore be necessary to limit himself to the distribution of a very small dice of cheese per day! As a general rule, treats like cheese should not exceed 10% of the total calories consumed by your dog.
- Cheese contains lactose, a sugar from milk that the dog can have trouble digesting when it is brought in too large quantities. A dog that would receive too much cheese could then suffer from some digestive discomfort such as diarrhea and flatulence. However, cheese is less rich in lactose than milk because part of this sugar has been degraded during the manufacturing process and the ripening of the cheese.
- Cheese is often very s alty, which can be a problem for very small dogs, pets with heart problems and high blood pressure.
Which cheese to choose for your dog?
If all types of cheese can be given to the dog, still prefer the cheeses with the least s alt and fat and banish those that contain toxic ingredients for him. Be careful, for example, of cheeses with garlic and fine herbs which should be avoided in the dog's diet because of the toxicity of garlic!
Cheese as the sole source of calcium: no!
Cheese has a reputation for being a good source of calcium. This is true but only for humans who have calcium needs 10 times lower than those of our domestic dogs.
To cover the calcium needs of a 10kg dog, you would have to feed him 500 grams of cheese per day, quantities which alone would exceed 2 to 3 times his daily caloric needs without providing him with all the nutrients it needs! In other words, this means that cheese cannot serve as the sole source of calcium in a dog fed on a household ration and that calcium must be provided by a vitamin and mineral supplement (a CMV) or by bone.