Methodology & Sources
The science behind the score.
Every number on KibbleLab traces back to published veterinary nutrition research. This page shows the methods, the math, and the sources behind them, so you can check our work instead of taking it on faith.
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AAFCO adequacy records
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How we score food
The Coach Score, and what goes into it.
Every food gets a 0 to 100 Coach Score built from the rubric our NAVC-certified pet nutrition coaches apply. It weighs four things:
- Ingredient quality, read from the label-ordered ingredient list, not the marketing on the front of the bag.
- AAFCO completeness, evaluated against the AAFCO nutrient profiles for the food's life stage.
- Recall history, screened against U.S. FDA recall records.
- Manufacturer transparency, measured against the WSAVA manufacturer-selection criteria (below).
A brand cannot buy a higher score, or change what we recommend for your pet. The full rubric, with worked examples, lives in our explainer.
Read the full scoring methodCalorie & portion math
We show the math, not a black box.
Daily calorie targets start from the Resting Energy Requirement (RER), the standard veterinary equation, then multiply by a life-stage and activity factor to reach the Daily Energy Requirement (DER).
The equation
RER = 70 × (body weight in kg)0.75
DER = RER × a life-stage and activity factor (for example 1.2× for a neutered adult dog, 2.0× for a puppy over four months, 1.0× at target weight during a weight-loss plan).
The factors follow the recognized veterinary DER tables, and every plan shows the weight used, the RER, the factor applied, and the resulting kcal, so the number reproduces itself.
Sources: NRC (2006) Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats · WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines · AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines.
Body condition & weight targets
A target weight you can trace back to a chart.
Weight targets are built on the 9-point body condition score (BCS). An ideal pet sits at 5 out of 9. Each point above that is roughly 10% over ideal weight, so a 7 out of 9 is about 20% over. We divide that back out to estimate the ideal weight, and cap any goal at a 20% reduction so it is never aggressive.
Weight loss is fed as resting energy at the goal weight, tuned by a weekly weigh-in. Rates run about 1 to 2% of body weight per week for dogs and 0.5 to 1% per week for cats, and we never feed below 70% of RER. It is an estimate to start from, not a prescription: your vet confirms the right target, especially for puppies, seniors, pregnant or nursing pets, very lean pets, or pets with medical conditions.
Basis: the 9-point body condition score (Laflamme, 1997) and the 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines.
Food-sensitivity trials
A structured food trial, not a guess.
The most reliable way to find a food trigger is still a structured elimination trial. You feed a clean diet, check in daily on what you observe (itching, loose stools, ear trouble), and KibbleLab lines up the ingredient families across every trial you run to surface the likely culprit. When a food is reintroduced and the signs return, that re-challenge is what confirms the pattern.
You run the trial; the software structures and records it. The result is a hypothesis to confirm with your veterinarian, never a diagnosis. A vet-supervised elimination diet remains the definitive test, and we do not use saliva, blood, or hair "intolerance" tests: independent studies have found them unreliable.
Sources: Mueller, Olivry & Prelaud (BMC Veterinary Research, 2016) · Olivry & Mueller (BMC Veterinary Research, 2017) · Cave, hydrolyzed protein diets (2006) · Verlinden et al., food allergy review (2006).
How we evaluate manufacturers
We apply the WSAVA selection criteria.
Ingredient lists only tell you so much. What separates a well-made food is who stands behind it. We evaluate each manufacturer against the WSAVA manufacturer-selection criteria:
- Employs a qualified nutritionist. The gold standard is a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (DACVN or ECVCN) or a PhD in animal nutrition.
- Owns and controls its manufacturing, rather than outsourcing to a co-packer.
- Conducts AAFCO feeding trials, not formulation-only substantiation.
- Publishes complete nutrient data on request.
AAFCO adequacy is tracked per food, read straight from the manufacturer's AAFCO statement, including the substantiation method (feeding trial or formulation) where it is published.
Sources: WSAVA Guidelines on Selecting Pet Foods (2021) · AAFCO Official Publication and Ingredient Definitions · Freeman et al., Tufts Petfoodology.
Recalls & data freshness
Kept current, not frozen at launch.
Every food is screened against U.S. FDA recall records, and if a food you have saved or logged is affected, you hear about it right away. We also detect when a product drops off a manufacturer's site or its recipe changes, and flag it for re-review so a stale label never sits behind a current score.
Product information comes from manufacturer-published labels and AAFCO statements; recalls come straight from the FDA.
References
The full reference list.
The guidelines, peer-reviewed papers, and reference texts behind the methods above. Grouped so you can find what you are checking.
Guideline & standards bodies
- WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee. "Guidelines on Selecting Pet Foods." 2021; "Nutritional Assessment Guidelines," 2011; Body Condition Score charts.
- AAFCO. "Official Publication: Model Regulations for Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food," 2024; "Ingredient Definitions," 2024; "Pet Food Labeling Guide."
- AAHA. "Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats" (2010, 2021); "2021 Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines"; 2023 senior care guidelines.
- NRC (National Research Council). "Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats." 2006.
- FDA. "FDA's Regulation of Pet Food"; DCM investigation updates; recall records.
- Pet Nutrition Alliance. "Calorie Calculator"; "Pet Food Manufacturer Evaluation Report."
- Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. "2022 Pet Obesity Prevalence Survey."
Peer-reviewed papers
- Laflamme, D.P. "Development and validation of a body condition score system for dogs." Canine Practice, 1997.
- Laflamme, D.P. "Cats and Carbohydrates: Implications for Health and Disease." Compendium, 2010;32(1):E1-3.
- Laflamme, D.P. et al. "Pet Feeding Practices of Dog and Cat Owners." JAVMA, 2008.
- Freeman, L.M. et al. "Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: what do we know?" JAVMA, 2018.
- Freeman, L.M. et al. "Current knowledge about the risks and benefits of raw meat-based diets for dogs and cats." JAVMA, 2013;243(11):1549-1558.
- Freeman, L.M. "Why You Shouldn't Judge a Pet Food by Its Ingredient List." Tufts Petfoodology, 2016.
- Mueller, R.S., Olivry, T. & Prelaud, P. "Critically appraised topic on adverse food reactions of companion animals (2): common food allergen sources in dogs and cats." BMC Veterinary Research, 2016;12:9.
- Olivry, T. & Mueller, R.S. "Critically appraised topic on adverse food reactions of companion animals (3): prevalence of cutaneous adverse food reactions in dogs and cats." BMC Veterinary Research, 2017;13:51.
- Cave, N.J. "Hydrolyzed protein diets for dogs and cats." Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 2006;36(6):1251-1268.
- Verlinden, A. et al. "Food allergy in dogs and cats: a review." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2006;46(3):259-273.
- German, A.J. "The growing problem of obesity in dogs and cats." Journal of Nutrition, 2006.
- Buckley, C.M. et al. "Effect of dietary water intake on urinary output, specific gravity and relative supersaturation for calcium oxalate and struvite in the cat." British Journal of Nutrition, 2011;106(Suppl 1):S128-S130.
- Guard, B.C. et al. "Characterization of microbial dysbiosis and metabolomic changes in dogs with acute diarrhea." PLOS ONE, 2015;10(5):e0127259.
Textbooks & reference manuals
- Merck Veterinary Manual. "Nutritional Requirements and Related Diseases of Small Animals."
- Tufts Petfoodology, ongoing veterinary nutrition resource. vetnutrition.tufts.edu.
Credentials referenced
- NAVC Pet Nutrition Coach Certification (PNCC), the credential KibbleLab's coaches hold.
- DACVN (Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Nutrition), ECVCN, and PhD in animal nutrition, named as the qualified-nutritionist bar we evaluate manufacturers against.
Disclaimers
KibbleLab is informational, and is not a substitute for veterinary advice. Always work with your veterinarian on health decisions specific to your pet.
KibbleLab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by WSAVA or AAFCO. We reference these standards; we do not represent them.
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