Is Cream Cheese Good for Dogs & Puppies to Have?
It is okay for dogs to eat cottage cheese and regular cheese. However, many dog owners are not sure if they can go ahead and give their dog cream cheese without any repercussion. This has made lots of dog owners ask the question, ‘can dogs eat cream cheese?’
Occasionally, humans can feed on cream cheese when they want a fast snack. Also, this food is delicious. Due to this, lots of dog owners have considered giving their dogs some cream cheese. If you wonder how safe cream cheese is for your dog, feel free to share your dog cream cheese occasionally. Also, dogs do not have to deal with any toxicity after eating cream cheese.
Although it is okay to give the average dog cream cheese, the same cannot be said about lactose intolerant dogs. If you have a dog that cannot deal with lactose, ensure you never give it cream cheese. This is because cream cheese will have the same effect that other dairy sources will have on it.
While many people ask questions regarding how safe it is to give their dog cream cheese, that shouldn’t be the question. The question should be why a dog owner will want to feed their dog with something far from being natural to their digestive system.
Cream cheese goes through a lot of processing before becoming edible. It is also very unnatural. Due to how much processing cream cheese goes through before becoming ready, it is not a food that your dog should regularly consume if you want the best for your dog. If you must give some cream cheese to your dog, this must be done in very small amounts, as well as in rare occasions.
What Quantity of Cream Cheese should I give my Canine?
When giving cream cheese to your dog, you must ensure you only give it insignificant amounts of cream cheese each time. This is because there are no significant health benefits of cream cheese to dogs. Instead of health benefits, cream cheese will cause digestive issues and diarrhea.
When your dog eats cream cheese in large amounts, it will have to deal with all manner of digestive and stomach problems. That, however, is not all it will struggle with. Cream cheese is very rich in fats. This means your dog is at risk of being obese when it feeds on a significant quantity of this food. Furthermore, it could also develop pancreatitis.
That’s not all. Cream cheese undergoes a lot of processing before becoming cream. And your dog will not do well when it feeds on foods that have gone through a great deal of processing.
If you have made up your mind to give your dog cream cheese, you must give it this food in minimal amounts. You can spread it on a slice of bread once in a long while.
Cream Cheese and Dog Treatments
Some dogs are never comfortable taking their medication. This attitude can put their owners through a hard time each time they need to give their dog medication. If you own a dog that is very uncomfortable with medication, you can trick it into taking its medication by getting cream cheese into the picture. This is very simple. All you need to do is coat the drug in a little bit of cream cheese.
When you do this, it becomes impossible for the dog to recognize the drug. Instead, it begins to see it as a sweet treat and takes the medication without any problems.
This trick might be useful. Nonetheless, it is not one you should always use. It would be best to use this trick sparingly, as over-using it will only make your dog pick up bad habits. And it might be challenging to change these habits later in life. In addition to making your dog pick up bad habits, always coating your dog’s medication in cream cheese will make it take more cream cheese than necessary, and this might put it in harm’s way.
The Problem with Cream Cheese
Some of the problems your dog might experience when it takes cream cheese are ;
Lactose Intolerance
This is perhaps the biggest issue with feeding your dog cream cheese. Lots of dogs are lactose intolerant. This means they will not do well with food like cream cheese that contains lactose. There are various reasons dogs deal with digestive issues. One of the primary reasons is the inability to digest lactose.
Rich in Fat
Cream cheese is rich in fats, which could make a dog get obese in the long run. If your dog is already obese, giving it foods like cream cheese rich in fats will further cause it harm.
Conclusion
Although dogs do not have much to gain from taking cream cheese, some dog owners still insist on giving their dogs this food. If you must give your dog cheese, it is better to provide it with cottage cheese instead of cream cheese. There are various types of cheese you can give to your dog, and of all these types, cottage cheese is the best alternative.
Cottage cheese should be selected over cream cheese because it goes through very minimal processing. Additionally, it is the cheese type with the least amount of fats. That’s not all. Of the various types of cheese, cottage cheese will most likely offer your dog the most health benefits.
While cottage cheese is generally considered better than cream cheese, you must be careful with the quantity of cottage cheese you give to your dog. If you go overboard, you could end up harming your dog.
Giving your dog a treat of cream cheese is not a bad idea when done occasionally. Nonetheless, foods like cream cheese should not be more than 5% of their diet. The other 95% of its diet should be rich in nutrients and very beneficial to dogs. Once your dog’s treat begins exceeding past 5%, your dog might gradually become unhealthy as it won’t have space for vital nutrients.
