Counting Calories in Diet Pet Food

Dog and cat owners who buy diet pet foods may be feeding their animals more calories than they realize.

That’s because the calorie counts of pet foods marketed for weight control vary widely, according to research by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. The study also found that feeding instructions on diet pet foods are often inaccurate and may even lead to weight gain in some animals.

The study, published in The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, counted the calories in 93 commercial pet foods marketed for weight control, including 44 dog foods and 49 cat foods.

The amount of calories in just one cup of dry diet food varied widely. Depending on the product, one cup of dry dog food had 217 to 440 calories. For cats, a cup of diet food contained 235 to 480 calories. That means a pet owner accustomed to serving one cup of dog food could inadvertently add more than 200 calories a day to their pet’s food simply by switching brands.

The calories in a can of dog or cat food also covered a wide range. For dogs, a can of diet food contained 189 to 398 calories. For cats, a can of diet food had 78 to 172 calories.

Feeding recommendations also varied. For some brands, the suggested serving sizes amounted to feeding about 25 percent fewer calories than the pet’s resting energy requirement, whereas recommendations from other labels amounted to 50 percent more calories than the animal’s resting energy needs. And half the foods studied also contained more calories by weight than typically allowed under federal guidelines for the marketing of light and low-calorie pet foods.

The study authors noted that for most of the foods studied, pets would not lose weight and might even gain weight if pet owners followed the feeding instructions on the label.

The lesson for pet owners is to talk to their veterinarian about the specific daily calories needs of a pet that is overweight. If the vet recommends a calorie-controlled food, discuss the best options and read the label to determine calories counts. If the feeding instructions on the label don’t match the recommended calories suggested by your vet, talk to him or her about adjusting the serving size or switching foods.

Tips:Don’t be lazy to measure out your dog or cats food.If you don’t do this already start now!Once you know how much a X breed should eat a day overall feed it that much.I’d weigh the dog or cat monthly as well.

Lacey update:Excercise and dog food

I have made little doggie kits ready so when we go walking/running twice a day I am ready for when and if Lacey goes poop.Since we don’t buy little doggie bags,I took a small ziploc bag + 2 sheets of paper towel folded it in half and cut it then I fold it twice and slide it in the bag.Now,we’re ready to go..I’ve also started to measure Lacey’s dog food and canned dog food into ziploc bags.I measure each bag has 1/4 cup of canned dog food stored(result:1/8 for two days..1/8+1/8=1/4) and 1/8 of Halo’s & Solid Gold mixed together.After we finish SG we’ll look for a different brand just to be safe.I also label the package with a permanent marker so I know what’s in the bag & I don’t confuse it with other brands.

As for what Lacey’s been up to:She loves to go walking and running at least twice a day.In the afternoon and usually after dinner(after she gets some of her table food treats.Not a lot as I am cutting back on it quite a bit except when it comes to vienna sausage,eggs and ramen noodles).She enjoys being the neighborhood watch dog..When we go walking or running she’ll stop and look around,sniff the ground to be sure that the neighborhood is safe.She even watches some people get out of their care.Enjoys meeting other dogs and neighbors in the neighborhood.Everyone just loves seeing Lacey!Lacey also enjoys going up and down the steps several times and playing in the grass rolling over(typical doggie behavior for the outdoors.:))
Overall,Lacey is doing very well as she enters adulthood in her pup life.

Lacey saves her appetite

All day on Thursday Lacey was saving her appetite for something good it turned out.Lacey didn’t want her own dog food,nor chicken nor hamburger for breakfast and lunch but she saved all of her appetite for corn beef.Only after she was given corn beef did she eat the rest of her meal.Leave it to a pup to have “gourmet” food with her meals!

Restrictions from Table Food

The only time I reinforce “restriction from Table Food” is when Lacey does NOT eat her own food for at least two full days straight is the only time I will fully renforce complete restrictions from any table food and Lacey knows that when I do this,she will beg like crazy but I refuse to give in then does she realize if I don’t eat my own food I don’t get any table food..Within less than a day she will eat her own food.Then I will allow her to have table food with her own food.I hardly have to reinforce this as she’s pretty good about eating both-Dog Food + Table Food.When I have to I will otherwise she can have both.

Lacey still gets table food but not directly except a few times a day

Lacey still does get table food but not directly given from the plate.Since she figured out the “Food on the plate over a wrap” which is where I would put her dog food on top of a plate that already had “food”referring to table food which was already wrapped..she figured out to get to the table food she had to dig for it…So that was outdone…
Now,the only way she can get table food is by having it chopped up or torn into bits and pieces(not more than 6 small pieces at a time) over her dog food and I make sure that she eats both.If I find out that she is only eating the table food and not her own I automatically stop and bring her food bowl up to the table where I eat.The only other time she gets table food directly from my plate is if I either give it to her which is rarely through the day or if I give it to her on a plate with treats for her that i make on a weekly basis.Other than that she is limited to actual table food.

Lacey doesn’t beg for table food

For the first time since I started putting Lacey’s dog food on top of a plate of table food I noticed that Lacey does not beg for table food..But she does eat her dog food on her own for the most part.Somehow she knew that if she didn’t eat her food she wouldn’t get table food and when she didn’t eat her own food she just rested with no begging.My dad and I were surprised at that.Normally,she’d beg but I think she’s getting the hang of it.

Getting Your Maltipoo to eat her food

Lacey is now 25 weeks old(6 months 1 week).Before I used to feed her the dog food and even when she didn’t eat her own food I’d give her table food.But I started a new system that she’s just learning and that she’s older I want her to try eat two meals a day on her own if possible before she gets table food.So when she begs me and she did not eat one meal before the day starts she gets no table food.She is catching on that if I don’t eat my own food I don’t get the good food(Table Food).A few days in a row she ate her food all by herself with no assistance but I am encouraging her to eat on her own even though at times I still need to assist her.I deal with her the same way I’d deal with a child.My method is if a child is at a walking stage in his or her life then the child is able to start picking up after themselves.Likewise if a dog is equivalent to 9 years old in human years then they are obviously old enough to learn to eat on their own.One way I got Lacey to eat her food today was by giving her the IAMS & Science Diet manually but she’d sniff,take it and spit it out.So I tried getting a bowl of chicken from the refrigerator that’s wrapped up and put the bowl in front of her.Then I’d put the dog food on the wrapped bowl of chicken and she eventually ate it.

Search:How much should a maltipoo eat?

I think it depends on each maltipoo as a individual how much they eat.First the important thing is to find what brand of dog food they respond to & the other important one is what flavor they  respond to.Like Lacey,she really responds to Science Diet which has chicken flavor to it.So what I do is look for the foods with chicken flavor.Find what type of “favorite” foods your maltipoo has and arrange thier diet of food including dog food around that.Once I found what she responds to I use that information to find the food that she will eat. How much will a maltipoo eat?From experience with Lacey with a puppy most will reccomend three times a day but the Science Diet can keep Lacey full on only  once a day feedings.When she does finish her food I always make sure I refill her bowl giving her access to it and water 24/7.Through the day Lacey gets treats such as a dog biscuit and bits and pieces of table food.Not a excessive amount but enough to taste yet less <10% of her diet.

Lacey’s becoming a big girl

Lacey has been doing really well lately.She makes on the mat majority of the time and hardly has had any accidents within the past few days.She’s 22 weeks old and has finally graduated potty training even while she has full run of the house to play in.We are so proud of her that she’s done so well..She also likes fried rice though she can’t have green onions but she enjoys the rice(white rice  w/shoyu mixed with eggs that’s scrambled and spam).Another favorite of hers is playing with empty bottles and chasing them espescially if there’s food in the bottle she likes to try chase it out of the bottle.

Lacey can’t have IAMS

We tried giving Lacey IAMS again but then we noticed there was a difference between IAMS and Science Diet.The difference was that with the IAMS she had soft poop but with Science Diet it was more regular..Plus Science Diet smells a lot better too.Makes me want to eat some dog food.:)