Can Dogs Eat American Cheese? When it is or isn’t an Emergency

Cheese, in general, is not considered toxic to dogs but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy either. Most dogs will love having a bite of American cheese but it’s not something you want to encourage. Unless you have a fat-free version, processed American cheese has a relatively high amount of saturated fat compared to other popular cheese types including mozzarella and cottage cheese.

The high amount of fat can be quite problematic for a dog’s stomach and it’s not uncommon to see dogs suffering from symptoms like diarrhea if they have too many slices of American cheese in one meal. You also need to keep in mind that American cheese contains lactose, which many dogs have intolerance towards. According to Thrillist, American cheese has a lactose range of 1.6 to 5.2%.

If you still want to give your dog some American cheese then please make sure to only give a tiny amount. Alternatively, you can offer a different type of cheese that contains less fat and lactose. Aside from cheese, there are other human foods that shouldn’t be consumed frequently by dogs. You can learn more by visiting our dog food database, which covers 100+ human foods dogs can and cannot eat.