Pet Food Math Cheat Sheet
““An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!” ”
“You did a great job on the pet food math cheat sheet.”
To determine what’s in the food we use the "Guaranteed Analysis" (or the “nutrient analysis” if available) and the "Calorie Content". Using the Pet Food Math Cheat Sheet (Figure 1) we enter the guaranteed analysis numbers, calories (kcal/kg), and estimate the “ash” content as noted on the cheat sheet if the information is not available. For ash I used 8.01% since the information was available at the company’s website. Once this information is entered the cheat sheet will do all the calculations so we can compare any type of food. (Figures 2 & 3) Click image to open expanded view.
Figure 1
The Pet Food Math Cheat Sheet is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You can download and use Microsoft Excel for free. https://www.office.com/
The spreadsheet can also be used with other spreadsheet programs like Google Sheets. https://www.google.com/sheets/about/
Get your copy of the Pet Food Math Cheat Sheet $24.95
You can see the calculations and the calorie breakdown in figures 2 & 3. After running these calculations we are able to decide if the food meets our expectations for protein, fat, and carb content for our dogs’ or cats. Click image to open expanded view.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Note that the percentage of calories (calorie breakdown figure 3) is not the same as the "guaranteed analysis" %. When the “Nutrient Score” (figure 3) is between 90-100% the grams per 1,000 calories (kcal) are close to what is actually in the food. If the “Nutrient Score” was below 90% the food would contain more fat and in some cases a lot more fat. (Figure 3) Based on the minimums from the guaranteed analysis this food is high protein (96 grams, min) , high fat (68 grams, min), and low carbs which is common for raw and freeze-dried foods. The “Nutrient Score” for this food is 92% so I estimate this food has about 4 more grams of fat per 1,000 calories (kcal) making this food close to a Keto Diet 1:1 ratio.
If a “Nutrient Score” is above 100% the calories (kcal/kg) for the food are incorrect or the food has a higher amount of ash or dietary fiber. If the “Nutrient Score” is above 100% contact the company and ask for the “ash” and “dietary fiber” numbers and verify the calories as listed.
Cost to Feed
Figure 2 - If we enter the cost of the food (Price $) and the size (Size lbs) at the upper left of the cheat sheet it will calculate the “Cost Per 1,000 kcal” so you can compare it with other foods regardless of the type. (e.g. dry, dehydrated, canned, raw) At the top right corner you can enter the number of calories (“Calories per day”) you are feeding your dog or cat per day and the cheat sheet will calculate the cost per day to feed and list the number of days the package will last.
With dry food determining the cost to feed per day and how long a bag of food will last has been a bit complicated because dry foods have differing densities and weights. The typical dry food is close to 4 oz per cup and has about 4 cups per pound. But foods can vary widely. One food can have close to 3 oz a cup (5 ¼ cups/lb) and another about 5 ¾ oz a cup (2 ¾ cups/lb). The Pet Food Math Cheat sheet will provide you with all that information but it goes further and shows you the cost per day and how many days a bag of food will last.
(Figure 3: “Serving/days per pkg”) Will show you the how many grams of protein you are feeding each day based the the calories fed. You can download a daily calorie estimator for your dog or cat for free at the links below.
Canine Daily Calorie Estimator (Free download) Feline Daily Calorie Estimator (Free Download)
Cheat sheet food tabs 1-8 are for pet quality foods. (Column 3 “kcal g”) Pet foods are considered less digestible than human-quality foods so calories (kcal) for pet foods are calculated at: (See column 3)
Protein 3.5 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
Fat 8.5 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
Carbs 3.5 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
Cheat sheet food tabs 9-10 are for human-grade pet foods. Very few companies meet this standard so use tabs 1-8 unless unless you’ve verified with the pet food company they are calculating calories on the human food standard. (Atwater factors of 4-9-4 kcal per gram) “Human-quality foods are generally more digestible than pet quality foods” so calories (kcal) for human foods are calculated at:
Protein 4 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
Fat 9 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
Carbs 4 calories (kcal) per gram (g)
The Pet Food Math Cheat Sheet is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You can download and use Microsoft Excel for free. https://www.office.com/
The spreadsheet can also be used with other spreadsheet programs like Google Sheets. https://www.google.com/sheets/about/