Daily kibble portion

What it's for

Packs show calories per 100 g: knowing your pet's need, you can compute the exact portion instead of guessing.

Tip

First use the «Dog/Cat calorie needs» tool to get the daily kcal, then enter them here. Split the ration into two meals.

Why the table on the bag isn't trusted

The guidance printed on the packaging is for an «average» animal of that weight, and it's nearly always generous: it doesn't account for neutering, for age, for how much the animal really moves, or for the fact that whoever wrote it has no interest in making the bag last. Starting from calories is more precise, because the amount becomes your animal's and not its size's.

The sum is trivial but needs the right number: the kilocalories per 100 grams are on the packaging (sometimes as «metabolizable energy»). If the bag gives the value per kilo, divide by ten.

Treats count, and more than they seem to

This is the leak that wrecks nearly every diet: the treats, the biscuits and the bits of cheese don't go into the bowl and so don't get counted, but they're calories all the same. The veterinary rule is clear: treats shouldn't exceed 10% of daily calories, and that 10% has to be taken off the ration, not added to it.

On a small dog the disproportion is striking: a twenty-gram biscuit can be a tenth of its day. It's why small dogs put on weight so much more easily, while «hardly eating anything».

Scales beat the scoop

The plastic scoop that comes in the bag is convenient and imprecise: the same cupful of kibble weighs as much as twenty per cent more or less depending on how full it is and on the shape of the pieces. On a daily ration that's a difference you see over a year. Kitchen scales cost ten euros and remove the problem for good.

And the real check isn't any number: it's touching the animal. The ribs should be felt by running a hand over them, without pressing, and the waist should be visible from above. If they can't be felt, the ration should come down even if the sum says it's right; if they stick out, the opposite. The sum is the starting point, the body is the check — with changes made slowly and judged after two or three weeks.

Nearby tools

For the requirement to enter here there are Dog calorie needs and Cat calorie needs. For water there is Water for dogs and cats, and for what should never be given Foods dangerous for pets.