Pets & Family,
kept off the food pages
Four calculators for numbers that belong to a household rather than a plate: two dog-food figures and two family timelines. They sit in their own group so the food hub stays about human portions — and so these pages can use the reference tables that actually apply.
Different subject, different reference table
A dog is not a small person. The fibre figure on a bag of dog food is expressed on a dry-matter basis, checked against a different nutrient profile, and calculated for a body weight range that starts around two kilograms.
Using a human Daily Value here would produce a number that looks plausible and means nothing. So these pages use the tables that apply: AAFCO nutrient profiles and NRC requirements on the dog pages, published sleep-duration ranges on the timeline, and the questionnaire’s own scoring key for the self-score.
They are also deliberately few. Four pages is not a category that needs padding — it is a category that exists so the other 127 calculators are not mixed up with them.
And all four are arithmetic rather than assessment. The self-score page adds up ten answers you give yourself. It does not interpret them, and it will not tell you what they mean.
Two groups, 4 calculators
Each card is one calculation — the line under the name tells you what the page reports and on what basis.
Dogs
Dog food numbers are not human food numbers. Fibre and glycemic load are calculated per 100 g of food as fed, then converted to the dry-matter basis the guaranteed analysis uses.
Family & Household
Two household figures that have nothing to do with a plate: a questionnaire score you add up yourself, and a timeline of when sleep patterns typically shift.
Two paths, and why they never share a number
The four pages here split into two families of calculation. Both follow the same discipline — name the table, convert to its basis, scale, then state the basis in the result — but they never borrow each other’s figures.
Pick the reference table before the formula
Dog fibre is measured against AAFCO and NRC figures per 1,000 kcal of metabolisable energy; the sleep timeline against published ranges by age in weeks. Naming the table first is what stops the two paths from quietly borrowing each other’s numbers.
Convert to the basis the table uses
Dog food labels report fibre on a dry-matter basis. A 10% figure on a wet food is roughly 40% once water is removed — so the page asks for moisture content and converts before comparing anything.
Scale to the animal or the age in front of you
A 5 kg dog and a 40 kg dog do not eat the same amount, and a six-week-old does not sleep like a six-month-old. Every page takes the weight or the age as an input rather than defaulting to an average.
Report the number with its basis attached
Every result states whether it is per 100 g, per 1,000 kcal, per day or per week, and which table it was compared against. A figure without its basis is not a result.
Dog food pages
Fibre and glycemic load are calculated from the food’s composition as fed, then converted to dry matter. Both pages take the guaranteed analysis figures straight off the bag — neither estimates them from a food name, because two foods called “chicken” are not the same food.
Household pages
The self-score sums ten fixed-response answers into a 0–40 total using the questionnaire’s published key. The sleep timeline places an age in weeks against published ranges and shows the range rather than a single target, because that is how the guidance is written.
Where the numbers come from
Three reference tables and one scoring key cover everything on this hub. Each tool page names the one it used.
AAFCO nutrient profiles
The basis for the guaranteed analysis printed on a US pet food label, and the reference these pages compare against. A food “meeting the profile” is a statement about the food, not about an individual dog. aafco.org
NRC nutrient requirements
Where a figure needs a per-metabolisable-energy basis rather than a per-weight basis, the NRC tables supply it. Energy density is what makes per-1,000-kcal figures comparable between foods.
Published questionnaire key
The ten questions and the 0–4 scoring for each come from the published instrument. The page does the addition; the interpretation belongs to the questionnaire’s own guidance, not to us.
Paediatric sleep guidance
The timeline uses age-banded total-sleep ranges from published guidance, shown as ranges because that is how they are published. No single figure is presented as a target.
Six things that move the answer
Four of these are arithmetic and two are interpretation. Both kinds are worth knowing before a figure is used for anything.
- Dry matter against as fedThe single biggest error in dog food comparisons. A 10% fibre wet food is not lower-fibre than a 6% dry food once water is accounted for.
- Metabolisable energyPer-1,000-kcal figures need the food’s energy density, which typically runs from about 3.2 to 4.3 kcal per gram of dry matter.
- Breed sizeSmall breeds have higher mass-specific energy needs. A per-kilogram figure taken from a large-breed table overstates the requirement for a 3 kg dog.
- Life stagePuppy, adult and senior profiles differ. The page asks which one the bag states rather than assuming adult maintenance.
- Sleep ranges are rangesA baby at the bottom of the published range is not necessarily a problem, and the page does not say that it is.
- Cut-offs are population-levelA questionnaire total is not a diagnosis. The instrument’s own guidance says as much, and so does this page.
What these tools are not
The dog pages work on a guaranteed analysis you read off a bag. They do not know your dog’s condition, allergies, medication or lab work, and a figure that sits inside a published profile is not the same as a diet that suits an individual animal. That is a conversation with a vet.
The self-score page is a scoring sheet. It adds up answers; it does not assess you, and a total near a published cut-off is a reason to read the questionnaire’s own guidance — not a conclusion about anything.
The timeline shows when sleep patterns typically shift. It is not a schedule and it is not a training method. Babies vary enormously, which is exactly why a range is shown instead of a number.
Frequently asked questions
Why are the dog figures not on the food hub?
Because they use a different reference table and a different basis. Dog food figures are expressed on a dry-matter basis and compared against AAFCO and NRC profiles, not against human Daily Values. Mixing the two sets would make both harder to check and easier to misread.
Why does the fibre figure change when I enter moisture?
Because labels report fibre on a dry-matter basis. Removing water raises every percentage: 10% fibre in a food that is 75% moisture works out at roughly 40% of its dry matter. Comparing an as-fed figure with a dry-matter figure is the most common error in dog food arithmetic.
Is a dog fibre figure a feeding recommendation?
No. It is the fibre content of the food you described, expressed on the basis the nutrient profile uses. How much to feed is on the bag, and for an individual animal it belongs with a vet who can see the animal.
What does the self-score actually add up?
Ten fixed-response questions, each scored 0 to 4, summed into a total from 0 to 40 using the questionnaire’s published key. The page applies that key. It does not weight the answers, interpret the total or advise you what to do with it.
Why show a sleep range instead of hours per day?
Because the published guidance is banded by age and expressed as a range. A single figure would look more precise than the evidence supports, and parents would reasonably treat it as a target.
Can the timeline tell me whether my baby sleeps enough?
It can tell you where an age in weeks sits against published ranges. It cannot tell you whether an individual baby is fine — that needs a paediatrician who can examine the baby, which is not something a page can do.
Who checks this, and what happens when a number is wrong
How this hub is maintained
- Basis stated, not implied. Every result says whether it is per 100 g, per 1,000 kcal, per day or per week, and which table it was compared against.
- Two tables, never blended. Dog pages use AAFCO and NRC figures; household pages use the published scoring key and sleep ranges. No page mixes the two.
- Corrections are welcome and acted on. If a figure looks wrong, tell us the food or the age you used and the basis you expected. We check it against the source table and correct the page rather than quietly adjusting the number. Contact the team.
- Reviewed on a schedule. Pages are re-checked when a profile or a range is revised and whenever a reader reports a discrepancy. The date above is the last full pass over this hub.
The other three groups
If what you need is not here, it is one of these.