brookcove
Posted : 8/14/2008 10:04:36 AM
Because weight is not equivalent to volume. A food can be more fully expanded (either through low calorie lightweight fillers or air), and so take up more space, than a food that is very dense. Wellness Core RF, which is an excellent food, comes to mind. It's shaped like, what did we call them? tetrahedrons? and takes up a bunch of room, in addition to not being a very dense food anyway. Then there's the factor of the sahpe of the "cup" used to measure the food. Honestly, I don't even know why the food companies include that "per cup" amount. It really doesn't tell you much.
Going by weight is much more reliable. Just weigh the food you use now, get the kcals/kg for that, and figure out the kcals your dog is eating now. Then look at the kcals/kg on the food you are considering, and figure out how much of that food, by weight, your dog will be eating. That's a good way to get an idea of the actual price of a food. Then when you get the new food home, measure out the food by weight that your dog will be eating (you should already have that figure), and get the measure you will be using, and figure out how many scoops the dog will be getting to match the volume of the measure you have, to the weight of food you intend to feed.
You can use anything to measure then. I use an old clean salmon can (recycling!) for the LGD food. They get between 900 and 950 grams, which is about four to four and a half salmon cans each. LOL
Clear? I don't think I'm communicating particularly well this morning so please ask questions if that's as muddled as I fear it is. 