Pet calculators are only as good as their formulas. The food calculators here use the standard veterinary resting energy requirement (RER = 70 × kg^0.75) with published life-stage multipliers, and the age converters use the modern staged tables rather than the debunked times-seven rule.
Dogs and cats mature explosively in their first two years, then age more steadily — and large dogs age faster than small ones later in life. The converters reflect that: a one-year-old dog is a teenager, not a seven-year-old child, and a Great Dane's senior years arrive sooner than a Chihuahua's.
Food portion outputs are calculated starting points, not prescriptions: individual metabolism, neutering, activity and body condition move real needs by 20% or more in either direction. Adjust to keep your pet at an ideal body condition score — ribs easily felt, visible waist — and recheck after any change.
Every health-adjacent calculator on these pages carries the same message: calculators inform, vets decide. Medication dosing in particular is strictly a veterinary call — our dosage tool only does the arithmetic on a dose your vet has already prescribed.