Can Dogs Eat Cheesecake? What Do You Think?

I love cheesecake… and I always have. Although it’s not a regular staple at home, I do occasionally treat myself to a little slice! My dog seems to like how it smells too… but can dogs eat cheesecake?

We all feel tempted to give our dogs a morsel from our plates from time to time. While it’s okay to share some of the foods we eat, not everything we consume is good for dogs to eat… and some things are plain unsafe for them.

My own dog, a Whippet called Misty, will eat anything if I leave it in plain sight. This isn’t so much of a problem for many types of food, but there are some foods that dogs should never eat as they’re dangerous.

So is this the case with cheesecake? Is it safe for dogs? Can you give your dog a cheesecake treat? Should you?

While it’s unlikely to cause harm to dogs if they eat a little bit of cheesecake, it’s perhaps not something you should knowingly give your dog on a regular basis.

So terms of this article, when you’ve finished reading you should have a good understanding of the risks in letting dogs eat cheesecake so you can make an informed decision about sharing this sweet treat with your pooch.

Can Dogs Eat Cheesecake?

For the most part, dogs can eat cheesecake unless it contains ingredients or foods that cause dogs harm, like the sweetener xylitol.

In my view this means that if a dog eats some cheesecake off your plate when you’re not looking, it’s unlikely to make your dog unwell.

Of course, cheesecake is loaded with sugar and contains cheese so if your dog snaffles a large quantity there’s always a risk it’ll have a stomach upset.

While dogs can eat most varieties of cheesecake, in my view it’s not something you should deliberately offer up from your plate. In the following section about cheesecake ingredients, I’ll explain why.

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Cheesecake Ingredients

As I’ve mentioned, as long as cheesecake doesn’t contain ingredients known to be dangerous to dogs, in small doses a little probably won’t make most dogs poorly… but that still doesn’t mean you should let your dog eat cheesecake at all.

While most varieties of cheesecake won’t pose an immediate threat to a dog’s life, they all usually contain ingredients dogs shouldn’t eat habitually.

So let’s look at some of the ingredients commonly found in cheesecake:

Flavourings and Sweeteners

While most cheesecakes recipes don’t contain life-threatening ingredients for dogs, some most certainly do.

Ingredients such as xylitol, raisins, chocolate, coffee, vanilla essence, food colouring and salt can make dogs seriously ill. For example, even very small amounts of xylitol can lead to catastrophic health issues in dogs.

So, if your dog ever eats cheesecake by accident be sure to check the ingredients and call a veterinary professional for advice if you’re in any doubt about what it might mean for your dog.

Sugar

Many of us love the sweet sugar hit a cheesecake delivers… but dogs don’t need refined sugar in their diet.

Although it won’t poison your dog, regular consumption of sugar can lead to canine obesity and a range of long-term health implications, such as;

• Diabetes
• Tooth decay
• Gum disease

Additionally, sugar can irritate a dog’s stomach causing inflammation, soreness, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Cheese, Cream and Butter

One of the primary ingredients in cheesecake is… erm, soft cheese! But cheese isn’t the only dairy ingredient in cheesecake.

Most dogs find it hard to digest dairy products like cheese, cream and butter, since they’re high in lactose. 

Consequently, they can cause a range of digestive upsets in dogs like:

• Bloating
• Gas
• Stomach discomfort and pain
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea.

Furthermore, stomach upsets can contribute to dehydration in dogs.

Some dogs are even more sensitive to dairy products if they’re lactose intolerant, in which case the symptoms above can be even more pronounced.

Soft cheese, cream and butter are also foods that are high in fat. As with sugar, an excess of it in a dogs diet can lead to:

• Digestive upsets
• Canine obesity
• Diabetes
• Pancreatitis
• Coronary disease

Biscuits

The last major ingredient in cheesecake is the biscuits used for the base. 

Usually sweet biscuits such as digestives are crushed and mixed with butter to form the base.

While the biscuits themselves won’t cause most dogs health issues if eaten in moderation (and on an occasional basis), their inclusion in cheesecakes means more calories, more sugar and butter.

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Cheesecake Nutritional Information

To outline the pertinent details of the nutritional content of an average commercially prepared cheesecake as far as dogs are concerned, the following comes from the USDA. 100g of commercially prepared cheesecake contains the following:

• Energy: 321 kcal
• Fat: 22.5g
• Sugars: 21.8g

So for every 100g of cheesecake your dog eats, around 44.3% of it is sugar and fat!

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Summary – Can Dogs Eat Cheesecake?

Dogs can eat cheesecake in the sense that they most likely won’t experience anything worse than a stomach upset if they overindulge.

However, some varieties of cheesecake may contain ingredients that are dangerous, especially sweeteners known to cause severe health issues in dogs.

That said, even if your dog “only” suffers from stomach problems, that’s still reason enough not to let it eat cheesecake. None of us want to cause our dogs any kind of unnecessary suffering, even if we feel mean because they look at us longingly while we’re eating.

The upshot is that if your dog eats a small portion of cheesecake when you’re not watching your plate, you shouldn’t be overly concerned. However, you shouldn’t knowingly allow your dog to eat cheesecake ever… and absolutely do not feed it sweet desserts made for human consumption on a regular basis.

Of course, if your dog eats cheesecake and you have any concerns about its well-being as a consequence, speak with a veterinary professional as soon as you can.

Has your dog ever eaten cheesecake and become unwell as a result? Or perhaps you have a question about dogs and cheesecake? Please leave your thoughts and questions in the comment section at the bottom of this page.

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