It is also more difficult for a dog that is fixed to build muscle, and muscle is a driving factor in metabolism. Once a dog is spayed or neutered, hormone levels drop significantly, taking metabolism with them. Image Credit: Pixabay Additional Factors That May Alter Your Calculation Spayed/Neutered Adult Dog: So, a 10-pound dog weighs 4.5kg and a 50-pound dog weighs 22.7kg. To determine your dog’s weight in kilograms, divide its weight in pounds by 2.2. RER in kcal/day = (ideal or target weight in kg ^ 0.75) x 70 OR 30 x (body weight in kg) +70 Don’t worry about adding in additional activities, like walks or sports, just yet. This measurement covers baseline metabolism and things like walking to and from food and water, quick potty trips, and other routine activities. This is the energy your dog burns in a normal day with no additional activity. In this equation, you are determining your dog’s resting energy requirement, or RER. If your dog is a healthy weight, then that’s the ideal weight you’ll use in the equation.
The other thing you need to consult with your dog’s veterinarian to determine your dog’s ideal or target weight. Using an outdated weight or a weight you’re ballparking isn’t going to give you an accurate measurement. One is to get an accurate, up to date weight on your dog. To calculate your dog’s calorie needs, there are two important things you need to do first. RELATED READ: Can You Judge Dog Food Solely by Its First Ingredient? Calculating Calorie Intake for Your Dog Calculating your dog’s calorie needs will help you ensure your dog is getting the right amount of food every day. Those recommendations are suggestions based on the average dog in each group, but just like with humans, every dog is different and what works for one dog may not work for another. The problem with these recommendations is that they don’t account for your dog’s current health status, or whether your dog is fixed or not, or how active your dog is on a given day. It’s based on adult weight, although some foods list recommendations for puppies and seniors as well. Why Do I Need to Calculate My Dog’s Calorie Needs?Įvery package of dog food has a recommended feeding amount listed on it.
This tool is meant to be used only as a guideline for healthy individuals and does not substitute veterinary advice The standard has to be adopted by all EU member states and several other European countries as their national standard, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn by January 2018.The exact amount of calories an individual animal needs to maintain a healthy weight is variable and influenced by many factors including genetics, age, breed, and activity level. This national standard will mandate the equations to be used by pet food manufacturers and control authorities for the calculation (and subsequently declaration) of metabolisable energy in pet food. The project was led by the FEDIAF Nutrition & Analytical Science Group in collaboration with the Technical Committee CEN/TC 327 “Animal feeding stuffs - Methods of sampling and analysis”. The European Standard for the equations of energy density (ME) in cat and dog food was published by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) in July 2017. Standardising the predictive equations to determine energy density in pet food (EN 16967:2017) Within the Petfood industry the most commonly used predictive equations for prepared pet foods are the “modified Atwater” equation and the equations cited by the National Research Council (NRC, 2006), also known as the 4-steps method.
Several of these predictive equations have been developed during the years, and their accuracy and precision have been compared to those of equations developed from animal feeding studies. Since animal studies are labour intensive, predictive equations are used extensively for calculating metabolisable energy (ME) concentrations of dog and cat foods. The metabolisable energy (ME) of a pet food is measured most accurately by performing digestibility trials. Metabolisable energy reflects better the energy that is utilised by the animal, but is more difficult to determine. No single formula will allow to calculate the energy requirements for all dogs or cats andĮvery equation only predicts a theoretical average for a specific group of animals.ĭigestible Energy and Metabolisable Energyĭigestible energy and metabolisable energy are a more accurate way of expressing the energy density of a food. It can also be caused by environmental factors such as temperature. This wide variation between individual animals can be the consequence of differences in age, breed, body condition, etc. (Reference: Fediaf Nutritional Guidelines)Įnergy requirements vary considerably between individual dogs and cats, even between animals kept under the same conditions.
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