Albert North Veterinary Clinic

Calorie Contents of Common Treats

Obesity is a common problem not only in people, but in our pets as well.  One reason for this is not realizing how many additional calories we give our furry friends in a day on top of their regular dietary meals.  Treats should only make up 10% of your dog's total daily calorie intake.   How many calories a day should your dog have?

On average (keeping in mind every pet is different and this is based on a good healthy weight) a 30 pound dog should be eating 540 calories per day.  A dog of the same weight that is very active should be eating approximately 640 calories per day.  A 15 pound dog should be eating 337 calories per day.  (These values are also based on diets that have had feeding trials and are bioreadily available for your dog, meaning your dog processes and uses more than they expel).

Based on the calories above the first dog should be eating only about 54 calories in treats in a day, which should be deducted from the calories he takes in at his meals, so a 30 pound dog getting 54 calories in treats should be eating 486 calories in dog food in one day.

Looking at the calorie contents of the commonly given treats below, you can see how easy it is to overfeed our dogs and inadvertantly cause them to be overweight.  Think about this: if you give your dog say 3 medium milkbones a day (so 120 calories) plus feed him his regular cup or so of food a day of 540 calories, in a week your dog has eaten 840 calories more than he should have!  Now multiply that by 4 for the month, and so on, and so on.   Now what if you give the 3 milkbones a day, plus one of those BusyBones a week....  See how easily it can add up!  Yikes.

Need help determing if your dog is at a healthy weight?  Ensuring that they are eating only the amount of calories a day they need? Need help getting the excess weight off?  Give us a call (306)545-7211.  We are here to help ensure your dog is happy, healthy and with you for a very long time.