June 14, 2024, 7:53 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Any cat owner who treats themselves to a piece of cheese once in a while, will most certainly have noticed, that their cat also shows interest in it. But is feeding cats cheese healthy for them? We asked pet nutrition expert Julia Fritz from Napfcheck.
Not many people dislike cheese. It’s delicious, not only melted on a pizza, but also on bread or even by itself. And you may have noticed that your cat seems to share this passion. But are cats allowed to eat cheese? Is it safe for them? And what about the differences between the many types of cheese?
Is cheese healthy for cats?
“Cheese is very interesting for cats,” Julia Fritz says. She is a veterinary specialist for animal nutrition and dietetics and the owner of the specialist veterinary nutrition consultancy Napfcheck. As an expert on nutritional advice for small pets, as well as a cat owner herself, she knows exactly what is healthy for pets and what isn’t. In general, cats are indeed allowed to eat cheese.
However, when you think of dairy products and cats, it might ring a bell. In the past, people on farms didn’t realize that leaving out bowls full of milk was actually harmful for their cats. In the meantime, however, it has long been proven that milk is bad for cats’ digestion.
The reason for that is mainly lactose. Even though cats love milk, they don’t tolerate the sugar in it very well. Julia Fritz explains why that is. “Lactose is a milk sugar that the cats’ mother’s milk contains. Therefore, small kittens got an enzyme to break the lactate down. But because cats only need it when they are young, while being fed mother’s milk, there is no need to maintain it in adulthood. As a result, the body stops producing it, and this ability does not return.” Because the cat cannot process it properly, too much lactose often leads to diarrhea and flatulence in adult cats.
Milk and condensed milk have a very high lactose content, but other products, like quark, have much less. Cheese, however, has the lowest lactose content of these products.
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How much cheese is my cat allowed to eat?
To properly understand, how much cheese is actually okay for your cat in terms of lactose, you will need numbers. “A cat is allowed to eat up to two grams of lactose per kilogram of body weight. A cat that weighs four kilograms may therefore consume eight grams of lactose,” Julia Fritz explains. “But hard cheese only contains 0.1 to 0.5 grams of lactose per 100 grams. Therefore, it would require kilograms of cheese to actually harm the cat.” The lactose value for cream cheese is somewhat higher, but still only three to 3.5 grams per 100 grams.
“The typical amounts of cheese given to a cat in an everyday situation, is not at levels that pose any risk.” Nevertheless, cheese does have a high caloric content, which is why you should be careful with regard to obesity, she points out.
My cat loves cheese
My cat, Remo, is absolutely obsessed with cheese. Whenever we bake a casserole with mozzarella, Remo insists on being allowed to lick the fingers after it has been torn apart. He’s also quite eager to snatch cheddar and other aged cheeses right off a slice of bread. It doesn’t matter to him, whether the cheese is made from sheep’s, goat’s or cow’s milk – he even gets excited about vegan cheese.
Of course, I don’t want him to be constantly given human “food” as a reward for obtrusive behavior. Therefore, I give him treats with a very aromatic taste, like cheese. However, he must perform a few tricks before he can enjoy this tasty treat.
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Cream cheese, Camembert or Parmesan, melted or pure: Which type of cheese are cats allowed to eat?
So what about the different types of cheese? In reality, there is no cause for concern regarding the type of cheese. The type of cheese you give your cat depends entirely on what it likes. But whether it’s Camembert, Parmesan or Cheddar makes no difference in itself.
Only fresh or processed cheese products make a difference due to their higher lactose content, but only if it is more than a certain amount. According to the expert, it also does not matter whether the cheese is served plain or melted.