FEDIAF 2025 MER calculation

FEDIAF 2025 expresses energy needs per metabolic body weight — kg BW0.75 for dogs, kg BW0.67 for cats (Heusner's intra-specific allometric coefficient, preferred over 0.75 for cats). Maintenance Energy Requirement (MER) values (Annex 7.2.4): (1) Dogs by age (Table VII-6): 130 kcal/kg BW0.75 (1-2 years, range 125-140); 110 (3-7 years, range 95-130); 95 for senior dogs >7 years (range 80-120). By activity (Table VII-7): low activity (<1 h/day) 95; moderate (1-3 h/day) 110 low-impact / 125 high-impact; high activity (3-6 h/day, working dogs) 150-175; racing sled dogs in extreme cold 860-1240; obese-prone adults ≤90. Breed examples: Great Danes 200 (200-250), Newfoundlands 105 (80-132). (2) Cats (Table VII-9): neutered and/or indoor cats 52-75 kcal/kg BW0.67 (≈35-45 kcal/kg BW for a 4 kg cat); active cats 100 (≈60-65 kcal/kg BW). (3) Growth: kittens 2.0-2.5 × MER up to 4 months, 1.75-2.0 × at 4-9 months, 1.5 × at 9-12 months (Table VII-10); puppies 8 weeks-1 year: [254.1 − 135 × (actual kg BW ÷ expected mature kg BW)] × actual kg BW0.75 kcal. (4) Reproduction: bitches 132 × kg BW0.75 kcal (first 4 weeks of gestation) and 132 × kg BW0.75 + 26 × kg BW (last 5 weeks); lactating bitches 145 × kg BW0.75 + 24 n × kg BW × L (1-4 puppies; L = 0.75/0.95/1.1/1.2 in weeks 1-4). Queens: gestation 140 × kg BW0.67; lactation 100 × kg BW0.67 + 18/60/70 × kg BW × L for <3, 3-4, >4 kittens (L = 0.9 weeks 1-2, 1.2 weeks 3-4, 1.1 week 5, 1 week 6, 0.8 week 7). All values are starting points — individual needs vary with breed, temperament, environment, body condition and disease, and thermoneutral-zone deviations adjust MER by 2-5 kcal/kg0.75 per °C.