Raw Dog Food Calculator: How Much Raw Food per Day?

Raw food, like any food, should be fed by calories: how many your dog needs, and how many are in each ounce of the food. This calculator uses the same veterinary energy formula as our dog food calculator and the calorie content on your raw food’s label. Before the numbers, the safety facts: major US veterinary and food-safety bodies discourage or warn against raw diets.

What veterinary and food-safety bodies say

• AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association): “discourages feeding any raw or undercooked animal-sourced protein” to dogs and cats, because of the risk to human and animal health. It lists germs found in such foods, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes.
• FDA: in its testing, 15 of 196 raw pet food samples were positive for Salmonella and 32 for Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA warns that owners who feed raw may have a higher risk of infection.
• AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association): does not advocate or endorse feeding pets raw or dehydrated nonsterilized foods.

If you choose to feed raw, the FDA’s handling advice includes: wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after handling it; clean and disinfect every surface it touches; keep it frozen until use and thaw it in the refrigerator or microwave, not on the counter or in the sink; don’t rinse raw meat; keep it apart from other food; refrigerate or throw away leftovers right away; and don’t let your dog lick your face.

How the calculator works

RER (kcal/day) = 70 × (weight in kg)^0.75
Daily calories = RER × life-stage factor
Grams per day = daily calories ÷ (kcal per kg of food) × 1,000

The life-stage factors are the ones from Ohio State’s veterinary Nutrition Support Service and the Merck Veterinary Manual: 1.6 for a spayed or neutered adult, 1.8 for an intact adult, 3.0 for a puppy under 4 months, and so on (see the dog food calculator for the full table). If the label gives kcal per pound or per ounce, the calculator converts it.

Why not “2–3% of body weight”?

You’ll see it on many raw-feeding sites: feed 2–3% of the dog’s body weight per day. We looked for it in veterinary references (Merck, WSAVA, AAHA, university veterinary schools) and didn’t find it, so we don’t use it. It also ignores how many calories a given food contains, which varies a lot with fat content. The calculator shows the result as a share of body weight so you can compare.

Worked examples

Example 1: a 50 lb spayed adult dog, raw food with 1,500 kcal per kg. 50 lb = 22.68 kg. RER = 727 kcal. × 1.6 = 1,164 kcal per day. 1,164 ÷ 1,500 × 1,000 = 776 g per day (27.4 oz, 1.71 lb). That is 3.4% of body weight.

Example 2: the same dog, food labeled 680 kcal per lb. 680 kcal/lb × 2.2046 = 1,499 kcal/kg, so the amount is the same: 776 g (27.4 oz).

Example 3: a 20 lb puppy over 4 months, food with 1,600 kcal per kg. RER = 366 kcal. × 2.0 = 732 kcal per day ÷ 1,600 × 1,000 = 457 g (16.1 oz), 5% of body weight.

Limitations

• Calories, not balance. The amount is only right if the food is complete and balanced for your dog’s life stage. Many raw recipes are not.
• Individual variation. AAHA notes energy needs can vary by about 30% either way in dogs. Adjust to body condition with your vet.
• Label accuracy. The result is only as good as the calorie figure you enter.