Cottage cheese and quark for dogs: how much per day?

Low-fat quark and cottage cheese are a protein-rich extra for dogs who tolerate dairy. As treats, they count – together with all other snacks – towards the maximum of 10% of daily calories, which for a 10 kg dog is around 63 kcal. Because dogs produce only a little lactase, start small and leave dairy out if your dog's stools turn soft. Mature hard cheese is virtually lactose-free, but high in energy and salty; butter and crème fraîche are mostly fat.

Many dogs absolutely love quark – as a topping, in a Kong or as a reward. Here you'll find out how much of it is appropriate, why some dogs don't tolerate dairy well and what applies to the cheese from the breakfast table.

Milk contains milk sugar (lactose). Digesting it requires the enzyme lactase – and according to the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center, dogs have only a little of it. Milk and dairy products can therefore cause diarrhoea and other digestive upsets. How severe these are varies from dog to dog.

What matters is how much lactose a particular product contains. Mature cheese contains hardly any milk sugar, while fresh cheese contains considerably more. Figures from the Swiss food composition database show the difference:

Per 100 g, that means low-fat quark has around 4 g of lactose and mozzarella under 1 g. Individual products may differ.

For everything that goes into the bowl on top of the main food, the WSAVA, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, recommends: less than 10% of daily calories in total. A neutered, normally active 10 kg dog needs around 630 kcal a day, so their treat budget is about 63 kcal. The calculator gives you the figure for your dog: work out your dog's calorie needs.

The number of grams comes from the pack: grams = treat budget ÷ kcal per 100 g × 100. If your low-fat quark states 70 kcal per 100 g, for example, 63 kcal would work out at 90 g – but only on a day with no other treats. A teaspoon is enough to try it out. If the stools are normal the next day, you can give a little more.

This is what it looks like for other weights, calculated for a neutered, normally active dog and low-fat quark with 70 kcal per 100 g. The treat budget is 10% of the daily requirement, so for a 20 kg dog it's 106 of around 1,060 kcal:

These are upper limits for a day with no other treats, not an amount for every day. Even so, start with a teaspoon.

What to look out for when shopping:

• Low in fat: low-fat quark and light cottage cheese have fewer calories than full-fat or cream quark. The figure on the pack is what counts.
• Unsweetened and plain: no fruit quark, no puddings, no desserts. Xylitol (birch sugar) can cause dangerously low blood sugar in dogs.
• No herbs or seasoning: herb quark, garlic dips or cream cheese with chives are off limits. Onion, garlic and chives can damage red blood cells in dogs.

How often? There's no fixed rule. If your dog tolerates quark and the amount stays within the budget, a small portion a day is fine. If your dog is on a diet, the topping counts towards the diet calories – more on this in our guide to helping your dog lose weight with a diet plan.

When your dog has diarrhoea, low-fat cottage cheese or low-fat quark can replace part of the chicken in a bland diet, provided your dog otherwise tolerates dairy well. How that works is explained in our guide to a bland diet for dogs with diarrhoea.

With cheese, the issue is less the lactose than the energy: according to the WSAVA, 28 g of Cheddar has around 120 kcal, while 28 g of lean, skinless turkey breast has only around 50 kcal. For a 10 kg dog, about 15 g of Cheddar would already be the whole day's treat budget. That makes cheese suitable as a small, special titbit – in pea-sized cubes.

• Parmesan and other hard cheeses: virtually lactose-free, but salty and high in fat. A few crumbs as a training reward are fine, but it's unsuitable as a regular snack. Too much salt makes dogs thirsty and, in large amounts, can cause poisoning.
• Feta: matures in brine and is correspondingly salty. A small piece as an exception at most.
• Mozzarella: mild and, according to the nutrition table, low in lactose. A few small pieces are fine – leftover pizza with onions or garlic is not.
• Cheese with added ingredients: leave out varieties with onions, garlic, chives or herb mixes.

If you hide tablets in cheese, that counts as a treat too. A small piece is usually enough to wrap the tablet.

Butter contains hardly any lactose, but under EU rules it consists of at least 80% milk fat. Crème fraîche is a cream product with a high fat content; the exact figure is on the pack. In dogs, fat can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and in some it can encourage inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), the ASPCA warns. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, larger amounts of table scraps are a common risk factor for it.

You don't need butter or crème fraîche as an ingredient for your dog's bowl. They are particularly unsuitable for dogs who are overweight or have had pancreatitis in the past. If your dog has snatched a piece of butter from the table, keep an eye on them. If they vomit, have abdominal pain or seem lethargic, call your vet practice.

• Your dog gets soft stools or wind after quark, yoghurt or cheese.
• They're in the middle of an elimination diet. According to an analysis of published cases, dairy is one of the most common triggers of food allergies in dogs – in that case, feed only what your vet practice specifies.
• They've had pancreatitis before or are on a low-fat diet.
• They need to lose weight, and the treat budget has already been used up by other treats.

Which other foods can go in the bowl is shown in the A to Z list of foods.

If quark is to be more than a treat and become a regular part of home-cooked meals, it has to be factored into the recipe – otherwise the calories and nutrients shift. The DoggoMeal app calculates recipes with grams per ingredient to suit your dog's weight, age and activity, and remembers what they don't tolerate. Get the app.