Is it possible to give a dog cottage cheese: which one to choose, how often to feed it and in what quantity to give it

The health of our pets largely depends on how high-quality and varied products we feed them. It is wrong to give your dog exclusively meat. – the tailed friend will not receive all the necessary vitamins and minerals from it. Are dairy products, in particular cottage cheese, allowed for dogs?

Role in the human diet

People have been using cottage cheese for a long time. It is made by heating natural milk and expressing the whey that is released. For people, it is a real storehouse of useful substances : amino acids, vitamins A, E, C, B1, B2, B12, a number of useful microelements: potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, fluoride, lack of lactose , and most importantly - how much protein!

Indeed, cottage cheese compares favorably with other dairy products precisely because of its high protein content. In addition, during the fermentation process, the casein protein coagulates, and this increases its digestibility . This protein perfectly saturates the human body and is involved in the process of formation and restoration of muscle tissue. Calcium and phosphorus serve as materials for building bone tissue and strengthening teeth.

Cottage cheese is recommended for everyone to eat - children, the elderly, expectant mothers, athletes, and workers in hazardous industries.

Like any other product, cottage cheese in excessive quantities will not bring benefit, but harm:

Eating a lot of fatty foods will increase your blood cholesterol levels.
Frequent consumption can cause kidney problems due to the high protein content.
This is a perishable product. It’s easy to get poisoned by expired or low-quality products.

Important: The shelf life of any cottage cheese is no more than 3 days after opening the package.

What are the benefits of calcined cottage cheese?

A macronutrient such as calcium is extremely necessary for our body. It is involved in the formation and strengthening of teeth, bone tissue, and the substance also has a beneficial effect on neuromuscular conduction and the blood clotting process.

Moreover, calcined cottage cheese is a dietary product that is easily absorbed by the human body at any age.

Cottage cheese prepared with calcium chloride is especially useful for the following groups of people:

babies under one year old (complementary feeding with cottage cheese made from calcium chloride is carried out only after consultation with a pediatrician);
children aged 1 year and older;
teenagers;
pregnant, lactating;
To old people;
everyone who suffers from calcium deficiency, kidney disease, liver disease, atherosclerosis, anemia, and hypertension.

In addition to children, pregnant women, and the elderly, calcined cottage cheese is also given to dogs. The indications for using this product in dogs are the same as in humans. You can make cottage cheese from calcium chloride for a puppy or an adult dog using the same procedure as for a baby. Recipes for making homemade calcined cottage cheese are given below.

For pet

Benefit

This product is very useful for people - this is what owners are guided by before treating their dog with cottage cheese. Indeed, animals also need it . First of all, as a source of easily digestible calcium, necessary for the development and strengthening of the animal’s skeletal system and protein, which is of decisive importance for the dog’s health.

If there is enough protein in the diet, the dog will be active and strong. Cottage cheese is also good for dogs:

the presence of amino acids that help the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system. They are also responsible for the activity of mental activity;
iron – is responsible for maintaining the required level of hemoglobin;
Vitamin A is good for vision, helps to form strong teeth and bones, and it also normalizes metabolism. It also stimulates the immune system and helps fight infections. This is why cottage cheese is so beneficial for puppies;
Vitamin D is also important for puppies; the health of the musculoskeletal system depends on it.

Harm

Sometimes after eating cottage cheese the animal becomes ill, but this is more of an individual reaction . And yet, such a useful product can harm your dog if:

you feed your dog fatty cottage cheese - this will test the dog’s gastrointestinal tract. The liver cannot cope with such a load;
the dog is getting too much product . Oddly enough, an excess of calcium in the body also negatively affects the growth and structure of bones;
it is consumed by a large breed puppy - they already grow quickly, and an additional source of calcium will lead to pathologies;
the dog is obese or has pancreatitis - in these cases it needs to be fed a special diet, without any disturbances;
The dog is allergic to it. By the way, if a dog is allergic to beef, there is a high probability that he will also be allergic to cottage cheese. On the contrary, this rule also works;
This product does not mix well with dry food . For drying dogs you will have to select it individually.

Store-bought or homemade?

There are no clear pros and cons here. It is impossible to find out what store-bought cottage cheese At the same time, E. coli multiplies well in it, so buying it secondhand without knowing anything about the manufacturer’s certification is dangerous.

Farm-made is not always of high quality; the cleanliness of the one who makes it, the health of the cow and what kind of food she eats are very important. The percentage of poisoning from homemade cottage cheese is higher than from store-bought cottage cheese.

Important: dogs are not given “curd product”. Also refrain from feeding your pet curd cheeses and curd mass. You cannot buy cottage cheese with raisins and other additives.

When buying it in a store, carefully read the ingredients . Sugar, vegetable fats, sweeteners, dyes, soy, starch, preservatives, palm oil - all these “healthy” ingredients indicate that you should not buy the product. Give preference to the shortest possible composition and minimum shelf life.

Calcium chloride cottage cheese recipe

Dairy products are a major component of the health of the nervous and skeletal systems. Although such food is “too tough” for adults, it is not always quickly absorbed by a child. Cottage cheese made from calcium chloride for children comes to the rescue.

For the recipe you will need:

· pasteurized milk – 500 ml;

· calcium chloride – 1 tbsp. spoon of powder.

· heat the milk to 40 degrees;

· add powder, gently stir the mixture;

· leave the pan with milk on the fire until it boils and immediately remove from the stove;

· cool and separate the curd from the whey, place the curd mass on cheesecloth and strain off excess liquid through a sieve.

The treat is ready. Calcium chloride can be purchased at pharmacies without a prescription. To prevent the dairy product from tasting bitter, do not add too much powder.

Dosage of calcium chloride in cottage cheese

To prepare cottage cheese with calcium chloride, buy a 10% calcium chloride solution at the pharmacy. Add it to the product, adhering to the following proportions:

For 0.5 liters of milk there is:

1 tbsp. l. liquid calcium chloride;
or 3 g of dry calcium chloride.

When you prepare homemade calcined cottage cheese, always adhere to these proportions . If you take more milk, then the dosage needs to be increased:

For 1 liter of milk there will be 2 tbsp. l. liquid (6 g powdered) calcium;
for 2 l - 4 tbsp. l. ampoule (12 g dry) drug, etc.

It is not recommended to consume cottage cheese with calcium chloride more than 2-3 times a week.

How often to give?

Cottage cheese and other dairy products are not natural food for animals. For this reason, many veterinarians do not include them in the diet of an adult, except as a treat. At the same time, domestic dogs have been living side by side with us for so long that they have already managed to adapt. So you shouldn’t give cottage cheese too rarely.

The role of cottage cheese and other fermented milk products for a pet echoes the role of vegetables . All this together creates a healthy prebiotic environment that helps in the functioning of the stomach, preventing gastrointestinal diseases and allergies.

Important: your dog may be a staunch opponent of cottage cheese. Don’t force her; if she doesn’t want to, don’t eat it; there are various substitutes for the product.

Is it possible every day and how many grams?

For an adult dog, it would be correct to give cottage cheese 1-2 times a week, completely replacing the meat diet with fermented milk on this day. Or 3-4 times a week, 100 g, mixed into the main meal. It is not recommended to give more often - this will cause problems with excess protein and calcium, and loose stools may begin.

If your dog is overweight, you can develop a diet based on cottage cheese, but this must be done with a veterinarian .
The product is perfect for diets with low protein: its protein is lighter compared to meat. In these cases, the product can be given daily.

Cottage cheese and vegetables in a dog's diet.

Although cottage cheese and kefir are not the natural food of canines, we must understand that our domestic dogs have long adapted to life side by side with humans and this is reflected in their diet. The role of fermented milk products in the diet of domestic dogs largely overlaps with the role of vegetables. They create a healthy prebiotic environment necessary for the development of natural intestinal microflora. This promotes more complete digestion of meat and vegetables, improves the functioning of the stomach and helps strengthen the immune system, indirectly preventing gastrointestinal diseases and the development of allergic reactions. Cottage cheese and kefir are also an excellent source of calcium for a growing puppy, which is good for his teeth and bones.

However, cottage cheese is not a vital product in the diet of an adult dog. You can safely replace it with a variety of offal, vegetables, offer your dog kefir or whey, and periodically give raw, unpeeled tripe - this is quite enough for a balanced diet. You shouldn’t go to the other extreme - there is no need to give a dog over a year old cottage cheese and kefir every day. It would be more correct to replace meat feeding with fermented milk 1-2 times a week or just sometimes add variety to the diet in this way. You should neither force your dog to eat cottage cheese nor worry about its intractability. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't eat!

If your dog is overweight, it is recommended to replace one of the feedings with kefir. Cottage cheese is also indicated for dietary nutrition and a special diet with reduced protein, since its protein is lightweight and can partially replace meat in the diet of dogs. It should be remembered that if you are allergic to beef protein, you will also be allergic to cottage cheese, and vice versa - if you see an allergy to cottage cheese, you need to be more careful with beef meat, first of all this applies to drying dogs, they should choose food with a different type of protein .

Milk and dairy products are more beneficial for puppies during the period of growth and change of teeth, as well as for puppy bitches for milk production. Older dogs are given milk sporadically, if tolerated well, and priority is given to cottage cheese and other fermented milk products.

Sour cream and cream in the diet of dogs and puppies.

No less often, I see a ban on sour cream - of course, you shouldn’t give it in large quantities, but adding 1 teaspoon to cottage cheese or grated carrots is quite possible. You should choose sour cream that is not too fatty, 10-15%, and not given every day. The same applies to cheese - dogs can be treated to small pieces at home and during training, giving preference to natural low-fat and low-salt varieties, preferably homemade soft unsalted cheese. You should not give your dog smoked cheese, blue cheese or other exotic types of cheese. In addition, if your dog has an allergy to cheese or problems with stool, then this type of dairy product should be excluded.

Cream is sometimes given to puppies at an early age; it is often used in artificial feeding of newborn puppies in combination with eggs and milk. For older puppies and especially adult dogs, this type of product is undesirable, as it is too fatty and causes diarrhea, and also upsets digestion.

For dogs with liver and pancreas diseases, products such as cheese, milk, cream and sour cream are contraindicated. Owners of mini breeds, who often have a weak pancreas, also need to be careful. In this article we are talking only about completely healthy animals.

Dogs receiving dry food or on mixed feeding can and should be given fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, as well as cottage cheese and kefir, always separately from dry food. You should not pour kefir into the croquettes; it would be better to briefly soak the food in warm boiled water. It is best to set aside “natural days” or maintain an interval of 8 hours between drying and natural drying. Cottage cheese, kefir and milk are especially important in the diet of first-year puppies and puppy dogs.

Choosing cottage cheese for the dog.

Very often in articles by different authors I came across a recurring myth about the dangers of fatty cottage cheese. It got to the point that dogs (especially mini breeds) were fed low-fat cottage cheese and kefir. This should not be done! The choice of brand of cottage cheese and its fat content is purely individual and depends primarily on individual tolerance, the loads received, living conditions and the condition of the animal.

Dogs are allowed to feed cottage cheese from 3.5-9% inclusive!

And puppies and active working dogs can safely take cottage cheese from 9-11%. No dog or person benefits from low-fat cottage cheese, even if you are on a diet or are afraid that the pancreas will not cope. Only vegetable fat is dangerous for dogs; it should not be present in cottage cheese and fermented milk products at all. A lower percentage of fat content is prescribed only to elderly inactive animals, bitches with false pregnancies, sick animals with gastrointestinal problems and obese dogs. But even they should not take cottage cheese with less than 2-3% fat content.

Puppies, on the contrary, can be offered a more high-calorie diet, rich in animal fats - cottage cheese, 15% sour cream, diluted cream, unsalted cheese - naturally in moderation. Surprisingly, often a dog’s gastrointestinal tract shows diarrhea or regurgitation in response to a certain brand of cottage cheese or fat content; do not be afraid to experiment with these indicators. Find your good manufacturer and select the percentage of fat content that your dog tolerates best. The most optimal fermented milk products are cottage cheese with a fat content of 5-9% and kefir with a fat content of 3.5%.

What should not be in cottage cheese for dogs?

If you prefer store-bought cottage cheese, carefully read the ingredients. There should be no sugar, vegetable fats, no dyes, sweeteners and preservatives, soy, starch, palm oil, no E. The composition should be entirely from natural products, as short as possible and the product should be manufactured according to GOST, and not according to the specifications that Each manufacturer has their own. You also need to pay attention to the date of manufacture and shelf life - if the latter is too long, you should refuse to purchase. Be especially careful in the market when purchasing loose cottage cheese and don’t be too lazy to ask for a quality certificate for their products, as well as a veterinary certificate. Unfortunately, very often such cottage cheese hides artificial additives and is a cottage cheese product. Remember, “curd product” is not given to dogs and the low price of cottage cheese should alert you. Curd cheeses and curd mass are also not recommended for feeding. Cottage cheese should not contain raisins or other additives.

Homemade cottage cheese is the most useful and safest for dogs. This is the recipe given by veterinary nutritionist Rumiya Feyzulova

in his book
Lunch for Greyhounds
:

“Put a couple of spoons of any starter into the milk. It can be kefir, yogurt, matsoni. Special starter cultures are also sold in pharmacies - Narine, Vivo, Yoghurtel, etc. Leave in a warm place until the product curdles, then in the refrigerator until the whey is completely separated. This method takes longer, but the product is of better quality - more beneficial lactic acid bacteria and probiotics are retained. It is also useful to mix with fresh vegetables and fruits. They function as prebiotics, i.e. food, a substrate for the growth of beneficial microflora in the intestines.”

For a puppy up to one year old, especially large breeds, calcined cottage cheese can be made periodically. But you shouldn’t get carried away with this undoubtedly healthy dish, since excess calcium in the body of a growing puppy is even more dangerous than its lack; unfortunately, I have recently seen hypercalcemia in dogs not so rarely.

For puppies

Cottage cheese is one of the first complementary foods introduced to puppies. At the age of 3-4 months it is considered a complete feeding and can be given 50/50% with meat. Take regular, not very fatty cottage cheese. But it should be softer than for an adult dog - the consistency of thick sour cream. To do this, mash it with a spoon and add kefir.

It is recommended to add prescribed vitamins and probiotics to “curd feeding” for puppies.

A puppy under one year old, especially if he is a large breed, can occasionally be given calcined cottage cheese, but without getting carried away with it. Excess calcium leads to hypercalcemia, a very unpleasant disease.

Reference: Calcined cottage cheese is a fermented milk product to which a solution of calcium chloride is added (in droppers, ampoules, bottles) or calcium lactate in powder. You can buy it at any pharmacy. This product contains more calcium than usual, promotes healthy growth, strengthens bones and teeth, and maintains muscle tone in the puppy. It is given to prevent rickets.

How to prepare calcined cottage cheese at home

If you are planning to make a product for a child , then use exclusively pasteurized milk. If you are preparing fermented milk medicine for an adult or elderly person , then take homemade milk (cow or goat). It will be too fatty for a baby.

Recipe No. 1. How to make calcined cottage cheese for a baby

Adhering to generally accepted proportions (1 tablespoon of liquid calcium chloride per 0.5 liter of pasteurized milk), we prepare calcined cottage cheese according to the following scheme:

Heat the milk over low heat, bringing the mass to 40 °C.
Add liquid (or powdered) calcium to the dairy product (stirring).
Bring the milk to a boil (do not boil), without stopping stirring it. As soon as the milk begins to boil, immediately remove the pan from the heat and allow the contents time to cool.
Place the cooled curd mass onto a sieve lined with double-layer gauze to drain the whey. To speed up this process, cover the cottage cheese with clean gauze and remove the curd mass under pressure.

As soon as the whey drains, the product can be considered ready.

Do not pour out the resulting whey; it contains even more calcium than the curd itself, so you can use it to prepare a lot in the future.

The whey can also be used as a moisturizer for dry cottage cheese. If your finished squeezed product becomes dry, pour a little calcined whey over it before serving.

It is not recommended to store prepared homemade cottage cheese with calcium for longer than 2 days.

Recipe No. 2. How to make cottage cheese from calcium lactate

If the pharmacy does not have calcium chloride in ampoules or bottles, then you can easily replace it with calcium lactate in tablets. This will not change the cooking technology, only the amount and type of calcium chloride in the finished product will change:

Bring a liter of milk to a boil, remove the pan from the stove.
Grind the tablets (8-10 pcs.) into powder and add them to the milk.
We wait for the milk to curdle, then place the curdled mass on cheesecloth.
When the whey has drained, the calcined cottage cheese can be consumed. To make the product have a more pleasant taste (this is especially important if you plan to give cottage cheese to a child), mix it with homemade yogurt, berries, vegetable or fruit puree.

Recipes with cottage cheese for animals

The main rule is not to mix cottage cheese with meat, but you can mix it with cereals (rice or buckwheat) and vegetables. Try these recipes:

250 g of cottage cheese, a small carrot and half an apple, a spoon of sour cream. Boil and grate the carrots, cut the apple, mix with cottage cheese and pour over sour cream.
Beat the cottage cheese in a blender with pre-diluted gelatin. You can add a little natural yogurt. This is a very healthy dessert for bones and joints.
Mix cottage cheese with buckwheat, beat in an egg (yolk only), and grate the carrots if desired. Nutritious, tasty and suitable for frequent feeding!
Cottage cheese for puppies: 100 g of cottage cheese, 1 tsp. butter, 1 yolk, 100 g ground oatmeal. Grind the cottage cheese with the yolk and butter, mix with oatmeal. Keep the stirred mixture in a water bath for 10 minutes. You can make balls out of it and give it to the animal as a reward.

How to make cottage cheese for a puppy with calcium chloride

The technology for preparing calcined cottage cheese for a puppy is very similar to the traditional preparation of the product for children and adults. The only difference is that we will not cook using pure milk, but using a combination of milk and kefir.

Ingredients:

Kefir – 1 l;
Milk – 1 l;
10% calcium chloride solution – 2 ampoules of 10 ml (2 tbsp).

Preparation of calcined cottage cheese:

Mix kefir and milk, put the resulting mixture on moderate heat, slowly warm the mass. Do not stir the product during heating.
As soon as curdled flakes appear on the surface of the fermented milk mixture, add a solution of calcium chloride to the mixture.
Bring the contents to a boil, but do not let it boil.
After this, remove the pan from the heat and cool the curdled mass.

Using a slotted spoon, we take out the formed curd flakes, slightly pressing them to the edge of the pan, and transfer everything to cheesecloth. As soon as the remaining liquid has drained, cottage cheese with calcium can be given to the puppy.

What if you feel sick from what you eat?

After eating cottage cheese, your dog may develop diarrhea. If the product was stale or of poor quality, poisoning is likely. If these symptoms occur, contact your veterinarian. You can help yourself like this:

For diarrhea , give activated carbon (at the rate of 1 tablet per 10 kilos of live weight), keep it in water for a day without any food. Make sure your dog drinks a lot!
If poisoned, you will experience diarrhea, abdominal pain, refusal to feed, weakness and lethargy or unnatural agitation. Induce vomiting by giving the animal a very weak solution of potassium permanganate. Give activated carbon.

Other dairy products

cheese - only hard varieties are allowed as a delicacy and encouragement during training;
milk is good for puppies. In adulthood, it is not absorbed by all dogs;
sour cream is too fatty and is prohibited for constant feeding. You can mix a little into the cottage cheese;
kefir - like cottage cheese, it can and should be given from puppyhood. Serves as a good replacement for milk in adulthood. Helps digestion, is perfectly absorbed;
cream - used for artificial feeding along with eggs and milk. It should not be given to adult dogs: it is too fatty and causes diarrhea.

Does it make sense for an adult pet?

There is some debate about the benefits of this product for an adult dog. On the one hand, as you grow older, dairy products begin to be absorbed worse; they are no longer required in large quantities. On the other hand, calcium is an element that is constantly required in the body.

An adult dog’s digestion can adjust to calcium levels. With its excess, digestibility decreases, and with a deficiency, it increases. But this does not mean that the animal will be able to endure a long-term shortage or excess of this macronutrient without consequences for the body.

It is best to feed calcined cottage cheese until 3 years of age , and then stop eating it. An exception, as mentioned above, is made for pregnant, lactating and elderly individuals.

If your animal has a calcium deficiency, do not rely on the super benefits of this product; in adulthood, calcined cottage cheese is less digestible .

Give preference to special vitamins or nuts, peas, beans, oatmeal - they are also rich in calcium.

Alternative

Many owners limit their dog's diet to only cottage cheese and kefir. Meanwhile, the animal - as an alternative to cottage cheese - can be given any fermented milk product without sugars that it tolerates.

This product can be kefir, fermented baked milk, curdled milk, Varenets, the drink “bifidok”, “acidophilus”, homemade or purchased yogurt without additives and sugar, whey, skim cow’s milk - skim milk, koumiss, diluted goat’s milk. It is useful to give whey from homemade cottage cheese.

When to offer puppies a saucer

It depends on the specific situation. There are objective reasons why you need to supplement earlier. If the mother's milk supply is low or the litter is very large, goat's milk is the best choice. It is advisable to use raw, whole. You can add one yolk to a glass of milk. Before reaching four weeks of age, it is best to use quail eggs, and then add chicken eggs.

It makes sense to start feeding puppies at 14 days of age if weight gain has slowed down. If they continue to recover well, you can defer the introduction of additional feeds for another week. Or you can wait another week and start weaning on solid food from four weeks of age.