The Science Behind the Calorie Calculator
Pet food labels provide generalized guidelines that assume every dog or cat of a given weight is identical. However, veterinary medicine shows that a pet's daily calorie requirements vary up to 50% based on breed metabolic rate, neuter status, age, and lifestyle.
BreedCalc uses the **Resting Energy Requirement (RER)** allometric formula developed by the **National Research Council (2006)**:
RER = 70 × (Body Weight in kg)0.75
We adjust the baseline RER using **Maintenance Energy Requirement (MER)** coefficients for activity levels and physiological states (spayed/neutered status, obesity risk, and health conditions) to deliver a highly accurate target.