Determining the Calorie Intake Of Your Pet Based On Its Activity Level

BY | January 19 | COMMENTS PUBLISHED BY
Determining the Calorie Intake Of Your Pet Based On Its Activity Level

Image Source: Pixabay.com

You have to put in a lot of work to properly care of your pet. The amount of time that they exercise and the amount of food that they eat have a large impact on how they develop as they grow. We can all agree that we love our pets dearly and would only want the best for them. So feeding them right and exercising them properly is a big part of the care that you have to give them.

So how do you figure out how many calories your petโ€™s ingesting?

It depends on a number of factors. The calories that your pet gets from its food is needed to perform certain actions like digestion, circulatory and nervous system control, respiration, among others. In addition to the functions that their bodies have to perform, their calorie intake can also be determined by their age, activity level, sex, and overall body condition.

Dogs that require more calories than others:

Young dogsDogs who have not yet been neutered or spayedWorking dogsActive dogsUnderweight dogsSick dogs

Dogs that require less calories than others:

Older dogsDogs who have been neutered or spayedImmobile dogsInactive dogsOverweight dogsFeeding your dog too little can have a dangerous impact on his overall health. Feeding him too much however, can end up resulting in obesity. This is how you can determine how much calories your dog should be eating per day:

  1. Use a calorie calculator. Measure his RER or Resting Energy Requirements.
  2. Pick a factor wholly based on his energy needs throughout a day. Multiply this factor by the RER. This will give you an estimate number of calories that your dog should be eating during the day.
  3. You can find out how many calories are in your dogโ€™s food by simply looking at the back of the package. From there it will be easy to dish out the necessary amount to keep him healthy.
  4. If you feed your dog two meals a day, then subtract the calories in the treats that you give him and divide the remainder by two. This will determine how many calories you should give your dog per meal.

Everything comes down to his Resting Energy Requirements. The RER and knowing approximately how many calories your dog burns in a day is what ultimately determines his calorie intake. If your dog requires around 400 calories per day and her burns 200, they an additional 200 calories added to his diet will be sufficient to keep his health and energy levels up. Just like in humans, if we eat within our calorie requirement, we stay the same weight. If we eat less and burn more, we lose weight.

Was this article helpful?