Dog & Cat Dog Calorie Calculator
How much should you feed your dog to lose weight safely? This calculator uses the same activity-scaled RER math as the Dog & Cat Nutrition Coach app, with a safety floor so the deficit never gets set too aggressively.
Enter your dog's numbers
How this number was calculated
Why dogs need different math from cats
Dogs are dosed on current weight
A dog's weight-loss target is scaled from its current weight by an activity factor — 0.80× RER for a low-activity dog up to 1.00× RER for a very active one — and increased 5% if the dog is intact. This lets the deficit track how the dog actually lives.
Dogs tolerate a faster deficit
Unlike cats, dogs are not at meaningful risk of hepatic lipidosis from a well-paced calorie deficit, so canine guidance allows activity to push the target lower for an inactive, overweight dog than a flat rate would.
A floor still applies
Even so, the target never drops below 0.60 × RER of current weight — a safety floor so weight loss stays gradual and the dog keeps getting enough energy day to day.
Cats work differently
Cats are dosed on ideal weight at a single fixed rate regardless of activity, because too fast a deficit risks feline hepatic lipidosis. See the cat calorie calculator.
Method: Resting Energy Requirement (RER) = 70 × (body weight in kg)0.75, following AAHA and WSAVA canine/feline nutritional assessment guidance. Ideal weight is estimated from body condition score (each point above 5 subtracts about 13% for a dog). This is the same calculation used inside the Dog & Cat Nutrition Coach app, where it becomes the starting point for weekly adjustment.
Want to see the arithmetic by hand? How much to feed a dog or cat, step by step →