Alright, you’ve done your research, decided on what to feed and NOW the question is: how much do you feed? A frequent guideline that people give is the 2-3% rule which says you should aim to feed 2-3% of your pet’s body weight each day. A pet with average activity should eat 2.5% daily and a low or high activity pet would be at 2% and 3% respectively.
Here are the two main issues with that approach:
1. Different foods have different calorie densities and
2. Your pet’s calorie requirements are not linearly proportional to their size as the 2-3% rule represents.
Let’s go through each of these in more detail!
Differences in Calorie Density between Foods
We all know eating 1 lb of fries is going to give you way more calories and different nutrients than eating 1 lb of lettuce. Similarly, different raw foods will have different caloric densities. We’ve seen commercial raw foods range from 30 kcals/oz to 80 kcals/oz and if you were to feed 1 lb at both ends of that range, you could either be feeding 480 calories to 1280 calories. This is a pretty big difference!
That’s why a reputable company should provide feeding recommendations based on the caloric density of their food. Most of the time, how much your pet needs to eat won’t vary a whole lot from brand to brand but it’s always a good idea to double check the feeding recommendations when you switch.
When people transition to our recipes, we find that they usually end up feeding slightly more and that’s because our recipes are leaner and on the lower calorie side. The main reason is that muscle is more nutrient dense in vitamins & minerals compared to fat so in order to balance our recipes with as much whole foods as possible, we look to source leaner, whole muscle cuts. Since fat is more calorie dense, this in turn lowers the overall calorie count in our food. We find this to be better for maintaining a healthy weight since as much as we hate to admit it, most of our pets are a bit more of couch potatoes than 4-legged athletes. And I know for a lot of us, food is a big love language for our pets and I don’t mind seeing how happy our pup is to get an extra bite.
Energy Requirements Aren’t Linear
In the natural world, smaller animals usually eat more relative to their body size compared to larger animals and it all comes down to metabolism. A big factor in this is that smaller animals have a larger surface area relative to their size and the opposite is true for larger animals. Simplified: more surface area means it takes more energy to maintain their body temperature.
The formula published by FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation) shows that a pet’s calorie requirements are proportional to their weight to the 0.75 power and 0.67 power for adult dogs and cats respectively.
The chart below compares the feeding recommendation for adult dogs with average activity using our food with the two different calculations. You’ll see that the 2-3% rule underestimates the feeding amount for small dogs and overestimates it for larger dogs. It may not look like there’s a big difference between the 2 lines but for example, a 40 lb dog would be given 16 oz instead of 20 oz/day with a 2-3% rule which is a 25% difference!
So How Do I Calculate the Right Feeding Amount?
If you’re feeding our food, the calculator on our site already takes into account the calorie density of our recipes and uses the appropriate FEDIAF formula to provide a feeding recommendation depending on your pets age, weight, and activity level!
If you’re using another brand, just double check their feeding instructions aren’t linear and you can always ask how they’re calculating recommended amounts. And finally, the 2-3% rule can get you in the right ballpark but will require more monitoring and adjustment on your end. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that all feeding recommendations are just that: recommendations to use as starting points. Pet owners should regularly monitor their pet’s weight and body condition and adjust how much they feed accordingly.