Treat Calorie Calculator for Dogs and Cats
Making treats for your pet is half the fun. Knowing how many to hand out is the other half. Enter your dog or cat's weight and how active they are, and you'll get a simple daily treat budget based on the common 10% guideline.
Enter your dog's weight to see a daily treat budget.
How the 10% guideline works
Treats are meant to be a small, happy part of the day, not a meal. A widely used rule of thumb is to keep them to about 10% of your pet's daily calories, so the rest of the day can come from their regular food. Homemade treats make this easier, because you know exactly what went into each batch.
Want something to make? Browse our homemade dog treat recipes or homemade cat treat recipes. Every recipe lists storage times and serving guidance by size.
Common questions
How many treats can my dog have a day?
A common guideline is to keep treats to about 10% of your dog's daily calories. For a typical 40 lb dog that's usually somewhere around 75 to 100 calories of treats a day, but it depends on size and activity. The calculator above gives you an estimate for your own dog.
How many treats can my cat have a day?
The same 10% guideline applies to cats. Because cats are small, that usually means just 20 to 30 calories of treats a day for a typical indoor cat, or a few small pieces.
How do I know how many calories are in a homemade treat?
Add up the calories of each ingredient in the batch, then divide by the number of treats it makes. WellWhisker does this for you and shows a serving size sized to your pet for every recipe.
How is the daily calorie number estimated?
It uses a standard estimate of resting energy (70 times body weight in kilograms to the power of 0.75), multiplied by a factor for how active your pet is. It's a starting point, not an exact number.
Should treats change if my pet is gaining weight?
If you're worried about your pet's weight, ask your veterinarian. They can recommend a daily calorie target, and you can keep treats to about a tenth of it.
Serving sizes made for your pet
WellWhisker works out a serving size for your own dog or cat on every recipe, including the ones you import from social media, websites, or a handwritten card.