Dog Body Condition Calculator

There is no pet BMI — a whippet and a bulldog of equal weight are differently shaped in ways no ratio catches.

Estimated ideal weight23.33 kg

Body condition score7 of 9Overweight

Current weight28 kg

Excess weight4.67 kg20% of the ideal

Energy at the ideal weight743 kcal/day restingweight loss diets are calculated on the TARGET weight, not the current one

Safe rate of loss0.28 kg per week1% of body weight

Time to reach the target17 weeks

A body condition score is assessed by hand, not computed. Feel for the ribs under a thin layer of fat, look for a waist from above and a tuck from the side — and ask your vet to score the animal with you once, so you calibrate.

The formula

ideal weight = current weight / (1 + 0.10 * (BCS - 5))

There is no pet BMI

Body mass index does not transfer to animals: a whippet and a bulldog of identical weight and height are differently shaped in ways no ratio captures, and the variation between dog breeds dwarfs anything seen in humans. What veterinary medicine uses instead is a body condition score — a nine-point scale assessed by looking and by feel.

What you are feeling for

At an ideal score of 5 the ribs are easy to feel under a thin layer of fat but not visible, there is a waist when viewed from above, and the belly tucks up when viewed from the side. Each point above 5 is worth roughly 10 % of body weight, which is what makes the arithmetic below possible at all.

Losing it slowly

Safe weight loss is about 1 % of body weight per week for dogs and slightly less for cats. Cats in particular must never be crash-dieted: a cat that stops eating can develop hepatic lipidosis within days, and that is a far more dangerous condition than the obesity being treated.

This does not replace a veterinarian

Every figure on this page comes from a published reference range, and a range is what it stays. The right dose for an individual animal depends on its kidney and liver function, on what else it is taking, on whether it is pregnant or very young or very old, and on what is actually wrong with it — none of which arithmetic can see. Use this to understand the scale of a dose or an exposure, and to have a better conversation with your vet. Do not use it to start, stop or change a medication.

If you believe your animal has swallowed something toxic, do not wait to see whether signs develop. Contact your veterinarian or an animal poison line immediately — in most poisonings the treatment that works is the one given early.