While pets with a healthy muscle condition score, coat and skin quality are probably getting all the protein (and other nutrients) they need, problems with these body systems can be due to a wide variety of nutritional and non-nutritional problems, which can be diagnosed by a veterinarian. Within reason, more protein is not generally dangerous, but may be wasteful. Younger and geriatric pets may need more young pets for growth, and old pets because they appear to be less able to utilize dietary protein than are younger animals. As long as the diet has the proper balance of available amino acids, whether they come from plant or animal sources does not make any difference to the nutritional health of the pet.Īlthough energy requirements vary greatly, protein needs are fairly constant, with adult dogs generally needing at least 1 gram per pound, and adult cats at least 2 grams per pound. Animals use protein as a source of the amino acids they cannot make, and of nitrogen for the ones they can make. In healthy pets, coat and skin quality also can be affected by the amount of protein (and a number of other nutrients) consumed. The muscle condition score also helps estimate whether or not the pet is receiving enough protein. Veterinarians also use Muscle Condition Scoring to determine your pet’s health. Although both are about the same size, the highly active nature of the Jack Russell Terrier compared to the slower pace of the miniature poodle can result in very different energy intakes to maintain a healthy body condition.įor the long term, you will adjust the amount you feed your pet to keep it in a healthy, moderate body condition score according to the Body Condition Scoring Chart shown below: For example, an active Jack Russell Terrier versus a miniature poodle. Remember, combining exercise with a small calorie deficit is the best intervention to maximize weight loss! Additionally, consuming a high protein diet (or sticking to the higher ranges based on your activity level) will help maintain and preserve muscle mass while losing fat.As mentioned, these calculations can only give crude, “zip-code” level estimates of your pet’s Calorie needs (and so how much to feed), which can change with time and circumstances.įor example, some dog breeds also require more or less energy by the inherent nature of their breed.
Therefore, creating a calorie deficit of 500-1,000 calories per day can lead to a max weight loss rate of 2lbs/week. Taking this into consideration, it is more feasible to cut back on food since daily caloric requirements for maintaining weight are much higher. So keeping that in mind, the goal is to lose 1-2lbs per week.įor sedentary individuals, it would be recommended to set a goal of losing 1lb per week, which would equate to a calorie deficit of 500 calories/day.įor more active individuals, daily calorie requirements are higher in order to account for exercise and active lifestyles. More often than not, when weight loss exceeds 2lbs in a week, the majority of that is water loss. That would equate to a calorie deficit of 1,000 calories per day. See this blog on How Many Carbs Per Day for Weight Loss to learn more.įor healthy, sustainable weight loss, it is generally not advisable to lose more than 2 pounds of fat per week.
Step 2: Divide answers in step 1 by 4 since there are 4 calories per 1 gram of carbohydrate Multiply daily calorie requirements by 0.45 & 0.65 to obtain calories from carbohydrates. Step 1: Calculating grams of carbohydrates. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that carbohydrates should make up 45-65% of one’s daily calories. Third: Calculate Daily Carbohydrate needs See this blog on How Much Fat Per Day for Weight Loss to learn more. Using both of these references you can calculate your daily fat needs: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans also recommends fat should make up 20-35% of one’s total daily calories. Use the calorie calculator to determine how many daily calories your body needs to lose, gain, or maintain your weight based on age, gender, and activity. To prevent any fatty acid deficiencies it is recommended to consume at minimum 1g/kg of fat per day. Multiply weight in kilograms by range that best fits your activity levels. This is the last step of calculating calories, and it's one that's absolutely essential for getting accurate weight loss results.ĭid you know that protein is a huge catalyst for weight loss and hunger satiation? Let's compare and contrasts sedentary versus moderately active individuals and their protein requirements.įor sedentary/lightly active individuals: 1-1.2g/kg/dayįor moderately active - extremely active: 1.4-2.2g/kg/dayĬonvert body weight in pounds to kg’s (round to the nearest 10th)