Every bag prints calorie content and almost nobody reads it, because it appears in three units that are not interchangeable and the useful one is usually printed smallest. Once you know which to use, comparing two foods honestly takes about a minute.
The three units
Calories per cup is the figure brands lead with. It is also the least comparable, because a cup is a measure of volume and different foods weigh wildly different amounts per cup. A cup of Loyal Saints Beef is 50.9 g. A cup of Pro Plan Adult Weight Management is 101 g. Same cup, twice the food.
Calories per kilogram is the one to use. It is weight-based, so it compares like with like across any two foods regardless of piece size or density.
Calories per ounce is the same idea in imperial. Loyal Saints Beef is 128 kcal/oz.
The comparison, done properly
Convert both bags to calories per gram and the marketing falls away:
- Loyal Saints Beef: 230 kcal ÷ 50.9 g = 4.52 kcal/g
- Pro Plan Adult Weight Management: 355 kcal ÷ 101 g = 3.51 kcal/g
About 29% more energy per gram — the opposite of the conclusion you reach comparing cups. Neither number is dishonest. They are answering different questions, and only one of them is the question you meant to ask.
The trap in the protein number
This one misleads in both directions and it is worth ten seconds of arithmetic.
Guaranteed analysis is printed “as fed”, meaning it includes the food's moisture. A canned food at 75% moisture might show 10% protein. A dry food at 10% moisture might show 30%. The dry food looks three times better and may not be.
To compare properly, convert to dry matter:
- Dry matter % = 100 − moisture %
- Protein on a dry matter basis = protein % ÷ dry matter % × 100
The canned food: 10 ÷ 25 × 100 = 40% protein dry matter. The dry food: 30 ÷ 90 × 100 = 33%. The ranking reverses entirely.
Any two foods with different moisture contents must be converted before their protein figures mean anything next to each other.
What the panel does not tell you
Calories and percentages say nothing about source. Thirty percent protein from named muscle meat and organ, and thirty percent protein propped up with plant concentrates, print identically. The guaranteed analysis is a floor and a ceiling, not a description.
That is why the ingredient panel and the calorie panel have to be read together — see what “no fillers” actually means.
One counterintuitive result on our own label
Our Chicken formula is 200 calories per cup, against Beef and Turkey with Salmon at 230. Fewer calories in the same volume means a dog needs more cups of Chicken for the same energy: a 50 lb dog eats 4 cups of Chicken against 3½ cups of Beef.
Beef also carries the lowest protein of our three formulas at 39%, against 40% for both Chicken and Turkey with Salmon.
Both facts are printed on the panel and both cost us something to point at. We would rather do it than hope you do not check. Real panels have trade-offs; the ones that do not usually have a rounding decision hiding somewhere. The reasoning behind that particular difference is in why our Chicken needs more cups than our Beef.
Common questions
Where do I find calories per kilogram?
In the “Calorie Content” statement, usually near the guaranteed analysis and often in the smallest type on the bag. It is required on US pet food labels, so it is always there somewhere.
What is ME on a label?
Metabolisable energy — the energy the dog can actually extract, after what passes through. It is the correct basis for comparison and it is what calorie statements report.
Should I feed by the chart or by my dog?
Start with the chart, then adjust by body condition over a few weeks. Charts are built for an average dog at average activity, and your dog is a specific one.
Do puppies and seniors need different numbers?
Puppies need considerably more energy per pound of body weight than adults. Seniors usually need less, though not always. All Loyal Saints formulas are formulated for all life stages, but the amount changes with the dog.
