How to Calculate Carbohydrates in a Pet Food
Do you ever wonder why carbohydrates aren’t listed as a percentage on a pet food label?
In canine nutrition what matters most is protein, fat, and other nutrients. A dogs need for carbohydrates is questionable, and you may find yourself wondering if dogs need carbohydrates at all?
Yes, I’ve heard the argument dogs are omnivores like us, but they’re definitely not like us. They have many more similarities in nature and cold hard biological facts to a cat as an obligate carnivore.
Not even pet food manufacturers, scientists, or professors have been able to give me a logical answer as to why so many cat foods are high-carbohydrates, which questions whether dog foods should be either.
Let’s take a look how to calculate carbohydrates in pet food, and you’ll find a simple carbohydrate calculator below to do the dirty work for you (who likes maths anyway?)
How to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food
Carbohydrates don’t need to be listed on the label of pet foods in Australia, but we can use a simple calculation to offer us a rough idea.
It’s not perfect, and I’ll explain why, but the following method is how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food:
100 – Protein % – Fat % – Moisture % – Ash %
If moisture and ash are not listed on your pet food, you may use average values of 10% moisture and 8% ash for a dry pet food.
Wet food, air-dried, freeze-dried, BARF et al will have differing amounts of moisture, so take that into account.
Carbohydrate calculator
Here’s a carbohydrate calculator for dog food and cat food for your convenience.
Carbohydrate Calculator
The above calculator will give you a rough idea, but there's a little more to it than that.
Other factors to consider are undisclosed moisture and ash percentages and variance from min & max percentages.
Moisture & Ash
Moisture and ash are usually listed, but as these percentages aren't required to be listed we can use an average 10% moisture and 8% ash for dry food only. Wet foods contain significantly more moisture.
Min & Max
We often find percentages are listed with a guaranteed minimum or maximum. This makes our simple calculation somewhat vague. If a pet food contains Protein (min) 20% then it's possible the protein, on average, is higher.
How to Calculate Carbohydrates: An example
Let's say a dry dog food contains 20% protein, 10% fat, 10% moisture, and 8% ash:
100 - 20 - 10 - 10 - 8 = 52
This product would contain approximately 52% carbohydrates.
So that's it, that's how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food.
What is the recommended carb % intake range for an adult dog? There seems to be a lot of conflicting info on the internet. Also, should this be taken into account when selecting the kibble to complement a half and half kibble and raw food / barf diet? I’ve noticed a lot of barf varieties state that they contain >2% carbs and >1% crude fibre. Thanks
Hi Kat, many raw fed dogs have very few carbohydrates if any, so it’s debatable whether they need them at all.
Kibbles can contain up to 60% carbs, and I see the main reasons for that to be low cost (and higher profits). That said, I wouldn’t be too concerned about some carbs in a dogs diet, and some may be beneficial. Maybe 15% to 30% of the diet, with an emphasis on high quality animal proteins/fats/nutrients.
Hi! Would this be a similar calculation for cat food? Thanks!
Hi T, yes it would.
Cat foods tend to have higher protein and lower carbohydrates accordingly, but you can use this calculation to get a rough idea.
Hi! I write you this from Mexico City, can you help me with the reference about the Calculate of Carbohydrates? please, or, did you know something about who determinate this calculate?
Hi Anna, there are a few variants in a pet food – usually protein and fat are minimum (guaranteed analysis) or average (typical analysis), and often moisture and ash aren’t listed. Therefore carbohydrates can only be estimated, but these will be what remains after protein/fat/moisture/ash are deducted.
I would like a review of aldi natural elements dog food specifically chicken salmon sweet potato & spinach recommended for all breeds & sizes includes puppies I f ibid it hard to believe one size fits all life stages thank you so much Eric
Hi Eric, here you go – https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/aldi-natural-elements-dog-food-review/
I’ve used “Petfood Reviews” over a number of years now.
It’s my doggie bible. If a new food appears that takes my interest and I don’t find it on here – I send them a message and ask for a review. I always get a response.
I have two dogs with two very different allergy problems, so it’s important for me and my dogs to keep on track with what I am putting into their bodies.
Thank you Petfood Reviews
Thanks for the feedback Libby and I’m glad I’ve always replied – I’m actually terrible at replying to people!!