Hi Cdubau,
Pet food calculators use an equation to determine energy requirements. But and this is a big but any particular dog can vary significantly from that number. What I’ve seen is if the calculated number is say 800 calories a day that number can vary from 400-1200 depending on the individual dog. Foods are formulated so that there is X nutrient/1000kcals such that when your dog eats to meet his energy need the nutrient need is met. During weight loss though we are intentionally not meeting the energy need. Weight loss foods should be formulated to have a much higher nutrient /1000 kcals than a maintenance food so that when “underfeeding” the dog’s nutrient need is met. For those dogs that require very few calories it may be that some foods won’t meet their nutrient needs when meeting their energy needs. If you need to feed far less than label recommendations to establish weight loss then it is an indication to get the actual formulation and calculate if the nutrient needs are being met. Or you could try calling the company and asking for your dog’s weight what is the minimum amount of food that can be fed that will meet the dog’s nutrient needs. The company may or may not be able to answer that correctly which is why I self calculate using the nutrient analysis provided by the company.
