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I don't give my cat cheese because (Lactose).
But sooo many people recommend feeding them this creamy cheese.

I'm not sure what type of cheese it's actually called.
Since Kiri is a brand (La Vacha Qui Rit)
which is not the same brand that I would feed if safe.

The previous owners used to her that cheese and they say she loves it.

Their claims of why it's safe :

  • "it's cooked, thus lactose is destroyed"
  • "it's made of low-lactose cheeses"

I'm not sure of what is actually true.
Is it safe to feed this type of cheese to my cat [5 months]
from time to time? Is it beneficial?

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  • in general human food holds too much salt and spices to be safe for animals Nov 28, 2021 at 6:57
  • @allerlerirauh , ye that's true in general. But is that the case for this type of cheese? For example (yoghurt) which is human food, is considered good for cats. So I was wondering if that kiri is not safe. Either because lactose or if it has to much salt as you said.
    – Roo Tenshi
    Nov 28, 2021 at 12:37
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    I'm not an expert, but a quick Google search shows that 18 g of Kiri contains 95 mg of salt, whereas an average cat would need ~20 mg per day.
    – Berend
    Nov 28, 2021 at 13:24
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    Also, Kiri contains pasteurized milk, which apparently isn't good for cats.
    – Berend
    Nov 28, 2021 at 14:11
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    I don't think cream cheese is considered low lactose. The cheeses lowest in lactose are usually hard, aged cheeses, or some other specific ones like feta and cottage cheese. Cheese is high in fat and salt, and low in essential nutrients like taurine. Best to just stick to cat food which is known to be appropriate for cats.
    – Kai
    Nov 28, 2021 at 17:32

1 Answer 1

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Since no one else answered, I'll turn my comment into an answer. Note that I'm not an expert on cat nutrition, and all my knowledge comes from 'random' pages I googled.

The amount of salt in Kiri cream cheese can be found here. A serving of 18 g contains 95 mg salt (sodium), or roughly 0.5%. The average adult cat only needs very little salt, some say 20 mg, some say 42 mg. So 4–8 grams of Kiri (less than a teaspoon) would contain the entire daily salt requirement for a cat.

Note that proper pet food, at least the high-end brands, should already contain everything a cat needs.

Regarding lactose, I couldn't find anything about this specific brand, but cream cheese in general contains ~2.5% lactose, so the previous owner's claims doesn't seem to be true. As already mentioned by @Kai , hard cheeses contains less lactose than soft cheeses, as can also be seen here.

One other thing, Kiri contains pasteurized milk, which cats also shouldn't have (source 1, source 2).

So, to answer your question: No, Kiri does not seem to be safe for cats, at least not in high quantities. I suppose that the occasional lick of cheese won't hurt, but you should probably keep it to a minimum.

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    Hey dude thanks a lot for your answer. It helps a lot
    – Roo Tenshi
    Nov 29, 2021 at 21:19

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