Methodology & Sources
The science behind the score.
Every KibbleLab score is built from published nutritional standards, verified product data, and clearly disclosed editorial rules. 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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How we score food
The KibbleLab Score, and what goes into it.
Most products get a KibbleLab Score from 1 to 10, computed by arithmetic from the label using a published, versioned rubric our NAVC-certified pet nutrition coaches built. (Prescription diets are shown without a score, since a veterinarian directs them.) Different product types run on different tracks (a treat is never graded on complete-diet standards); for complete diets the score weighs four checks, plus a small bonus for verified manufacturing:
- Ingredient composition, the label read as a screen for concerns (unnamed sources, artificial additives, label protein inflation), never a quality ranking of premium-sounding names.
- Nutritional profile, protein, fat, and fiber levels evaluated against the food's stated life stage and format.
- Adequacy substantiation, evaluated against the AAFCO nutrient profiles for the food's life stage (dry-matter reference points; the AAFCO profiles assume a typical energy density, so a very calorie-dense food would shift them).
- Health considerations, the pulse-heavy grain-free formulation pattern the FDA has examined for DCM in dogs (applied only to complete dog diets), and the brand's recorded recall history.
On top of those checks, a brand we assess as providing verifiable evidence addressing the WSAVA selection criteria (a qualified nutritionist, its own quality control, published research) earns a small bonus. WSAVA does not certify or endorse brands; this is our own assessment. It is never a penalty: not meeting a high manufacturing bar is not the same as a bad food.
A brand cannot buy a higher score, or change what we recommend for your pet. Recall history and verified manufacturing are applied by the same published rule to every brand, and no company can pay to change them. 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 1.6× 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 in the 4 to 5 range on a 9-point scale; we use 5 as the reference midpoint. Each point above 5 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. WSAVA's global nutrition guidelines publish the questions a buyer should ask a manufacturer; we look for verifiable answers to them (WSAVA does not certify or endorse brands):
- Whether it employs a qualified nutritionist, ideally a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (DACVN or ECVCN) or a PhD in animal nutrition.
- Who formulates the food, and whether their qualifications are disclosed.
- Where and by whom the food is made, and what quality control and testing are in place (owning the plant is one model, not a requirement, and a co-packer is not automatically inferior).
- Whether it conducts and shares research, and provides a typical analysis for essential nutrients 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 monitor labels for changes and re-check products, and every product page shows the date it was last reviewed, so you can see how current the data behind a score is.
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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