As you may already know, your pet’s nutrition is very important. You want to make sure that you are feeding your dog or cat the right amount of food each day to ensure that they remain healthy. Just like you when you are not eating right, your pet can feel sluggish and gain weight if his nutrition isn’t properly maintained. So how do you know how much food your dog or cat should be eating everyday?
An dog that weighs 35 pounds and is fairly active needs about 1000 calories per day to keep his nutrition. And a 20 pound dog that is active needs about 650 calories per day. Do you know how many calories are in your dog’s food? The average 1-cup serving of dry dog food has anywhere between 325 and 600 calories. Also, keep in mind all of the treats that you feed your dog. A simple dog bone has about 35-40 calories.
Now, let’s talk about cats. You might always just make sure that there is food in your cat’s bowl. Cats do like to have dry and canned food, but if you do dry food only, always make sure her water bowl is filled. On average, 1-cup of cat food is equal to 300 calories and a 6 ounces of canned cat food is about 250 calories. If your cat weighs 8 pounds, he should be taking in about 240 calories per day to keep his nutrition. So, feeding a full 1-cup serving of dry does set him over the caloric intake for the day. Keep in mind serving sizes when filling up your cat’s bowl so as to not overfeed him.
In conclusion, the amount of calories your dog or cat takes in everyday does depend on his weight, age and activity level. Call our office at 410-465-6218 if you would like to set up an appointment so we can discuss your pet’s nutrition at a more personalized level.