Senior Dog Calorie Calculator

Q: Do older dogs need less protein?

No. The usual recommendation is to keep protein the same or slightly higher, because older dogs lose lean muscle mass. What should fall is total calorie intake. If your dog has kidney disease, your vet's plan overrides this.

Updated September 2026 · Source: NRC 2006 energy multipliers (older active dogs 105, inactive/senior dogs 95 kcal per kg^0.75)

An older dog needs fewer calories than an adult of the same weight, and how many fewer depends on whether it has actually slowed down. On the NRC multipliers that is 1.35× resting energy for a senior that has slowed down and 1.5× for one that is still active. A 20 kg dog works out at about 894 kcal and 993 kcal a day respectively — enter your dog's weight below for your figures.

The reason this page gives you two numbers rather than one is that the honest answer to "how much should an older dog eat" is "it depends which kind of older dog". A nine-year-old that still does the same walk as it did at five is not the same feeding problem as a nine-year-old that has stopped jumping into the car. The calculator below returns both tiers so you can see the spread, then pick the one that matches your dog.

Which tier is your dog in?

The difference between the two numbers is not small — at 20 kg it is about 100 kcal a day, or roughly a quarter of a cup of a 350 kcal/cup food. So it is worth getting the tier right rather than splitting the difference. Three questions settle it, and all three are about change from how your dog used to be, not about age:

The walk. Is it the same route and roughly the same duration as at five? Or has it got shorter, or less frequent?
Stairs, jumps, the car. Does your dog still do them without being helped or lifted, or does it now hesitate or wait to be lifted?
Evenings. Does it still start play, or bring you things? Or does it settle early and sleep more of the day?

Still on all three → use the 1.5× column. Clearly changed on two or more → use 1.35×. The senior nutrition page sets these three checks out in a table, along with what to do when the answer is mixed.

How this compares with the adult amount

Owners usually arrive here with a number in mind: "about a fifth less". That is the right shape — the widely quoted reduction for older dogs is 15 to 25% fewer calories than the same dog needed as an adult, and the two tiers on this page sit inside that band. We deliberately do not reproduce the percentage tables here: the senior nutrition page already carries the full by-weight comparison, including the grams for each tier, and duplicating it in two places is how sites end up disagreeing with themselves.

One thing worth knowing before you apply a reduction: protein should not come down with the calories. The usual recommendation for older dogs is to keep protein at least the same, which in practice means a senior diet is more protein-dense per calorie than an adult maintenance food. Cutting calories by cutting protein is the mistake to avoid.

Where these numbers come from

Both factors are the National Research Council's 2006 energy multipliers for older dogs, expressed against this site's resting-energy basis:

NRC 2006 group	kcal per kg^0.75	As a factor of RER
Older active dogs	105	1.5×
Inactive / senior dogs	95	1.35×

RER = 70 × (body weight in kg)^0.75. Dividing 105 and 95 by that basis of 70 gives 1.5 and 1.357, rounded to 1.35. The same two factors run the senior rows in the main calculator, the feeding chart, and the table on the senior nutrition page — one engine, one set of numbers.

When "seven" is the wrong number

This calculator uses age only as the trigger for the senior life stage, not as the thing that sets the amount. That is deliberate: the seven-year mark is a convenience, and small dogs commonly reach it later in life than giant breeds do. Our senior nutrition page carries the by-size table of when senior actually starts (roughly 10 years for a toy breed, 5 to 6 for a giant), and it also covers the two conditions that look like ordinary ageing but need a vet rather than a smaller bowl.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a senior dog need per day?

It depends on weight and on whether your dog has slowed down. On the NRC multipliers, a senior that has slowed down needs 1.35 times its resting energy, and one that is still active needs 1.5 times. For a 20 kg dog that is about 894 kcal and 993 kcal a day respectively. Enter your dog's weight above for the exact figures.

How much less should I feed my senior dog than an adult dog?

Roughly 15 to 25% fewer calories than the same dog needed as an adult, with the lower end applying to a dog that is still on its normal routine and the higher end to one that has genuinely slowed down. The by-weight comparison, in both grams and calories, is on the senior nutrition page.

Do older dogs need less protein?

No — the usual recommendation is to keep protein the same or slightly higher, because older dogs lose lean muscle mass. What should fall is the total calorie intake, so a senior food is typically more protein-dense per calorie than an adult maintenance food. If your dog has kidney disease, your vet's plan overrides this.

When should I switch my dog to senior food?

Switch on body condition and activity rather than on a birthday. Small and toy breeds are commonly considered senior from about 10 years, medium breeds from about 9, large breeds from about 7, and giant breeds from 5 to 6. If your dog is holding weight and muscle well on its adult food, there is no rush — the senior nutrition page has the by-size table.

Source

Energy multipliers: National Research Council, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006) — older active dogs 105 and inactive/senior dogs 95 kcal per kg^0.75. Resting energy requirement uses the standard RER = 70 × kg^0.75 basis, as implemented in this site's calculator engine. This page is general information, not veterinary medical advice — an older dog losing weight, or eating normally while losing condition, needs a veterinary examination rather than an adjustment to the bowl.