How much it costs to feed a dog dry food per day and per month

Take a 20 kg mixed-breed dog, four years old, two walks a day. The owner stands in a pet store between two bags: one is cheaper per bag, the other is cheaper per kilogram. He takes the second one, because that is how he was taught to compare.

A 20 kg dog with normal activity eats about 1,060 kcal per day, and at regular prices as of 01.10.2026 its day costs from UAH 25.9 to 177.5 (our own calculation across 25 adult dog foods). The median is UAH 72.8 per day and UAH 2,182 per month. The price per kilogram, which the owner used to choose the bag, does not show this difference.

See also: Dog food classes · Ukrainian dog food · How much good dog food should cost

How much is that in hryvnias per day and per month?

A day of dry food for a 20 kg dog costs from UAH 25.9 to 177.5, with a median of UAH 72.8 across 25 adult dog foods. Per month, that is from UAH 778 to 5,324 with a median of UAH 2,182.

Our own calculation based on manufacturer websites and store listings as of 01.10.2026: regular, non-promotional prices, largest bag size. Energy estimated using NRC 2006 Atwater factors, the dog's requirement as 1.6 × 70 × kg^0.75. Nobody regulates dog food classes. The highlighted column is the dog from the introduction. Prices change.

In the super premium group the range is from UAH 53.7 to 177.5, wider than the gap between the medians of the three classes.

Why does the same dog cost both UAH 26 and UAH 177 per day?

The cheapest day comes from an economy food in a 10 kg bag for UAH 804, the most expensive from Orijen Original in a 17 kg bag for UAH 10,040. That is a 6.85-fold difference for the same dog.

The dog's weight does not produce a range like this.

Why does a big dog not cost three times as much as a small one?

A 30 kg dog costs 2.28 times more than a 10 kg dog on the same food, because calorie needs do not grow in direct proportion to weight, but as kg to the power of 0.75.

According to the calculator formula, the daily requirement is 630 kcal for a 10 kg dog, 1,059 kcal for 20 kg and 1,436 kcal for 30 kg (1.6 × 70 × kg^0.75, the basis of the formula taken from NRC 2006). Per kilogram of its own weight, that is 63 kcal for a 10 kg dog and 44.5 kcal for a 40 kg dog.

The heavier the dog, the cheaper each of its kilograms.

This is where the first guess falls apart: a dog three times heavier eats only 2.3 times as much, and its day on the median food costs UAH 98.6 versus UAH 43.3. How the amount itself is calculated is covered in the article on food amount by weight.

The choice of food shifts the daily cost almost sevenfold, and this is where the price per kilogram most often misleads.

Does cheaper per kilogram always mean cheaper per day?

The price per kilogram and the daily cost almost always move in the same direction (correlation 0.98), but for the same 1,060 kcal one food takes 278 g and another 335 g, which is 20% more.

The daily cost is the cost of a specific dog's daily calorie requirement, calculated from the bag price and the food's energy content. A kilogram of food does not describe this requirement, because the energy per kilogram differs between foods.

The owner divides the bag price by its weight and takes the cheaper kilogram. If that food is lower in calories, a 20 kg dog eats 335 g instead of 278, and the day comes out 20% more expensive at the same price per kilogram. What you need to compare is hryvnias per 1000 kcal: the median is UAH 68.7.

That leaves the walks to check.

Can activity change the daily cost as much as the choice of food?

Activity shifts the daily cost by ±14% from the average level, while the choice of food shifts it 6.85 times.

FEDIAF gives an adult dog three levels: 95 kcal × kg^0.75 for less than an hour of activity a day, 110 for one to three hours of low intensity and 125 for high intensity (FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines 2025, Table VII-7, p. 55). On the median food, a 20 kg dog costs UAH 61.7, 71.4 and 81.2 per day respectively.

FEDIAF itself calls these figures starting points and warns: “Recommendations for MER may overestimate energy needs by 10 to 60 %” (FEDIAF 2025, section 7.2.3.1).

Controlling the daily cost through walks is almost impossible. Through bag size and promotions, it is possible.

When do promotions and bag size actually save something?

On the day prices were collected, 26 of 38 foods were on sale, with a median discount of 15%, but the effect on the daily cost was uneven: the median day in the premium group fell from UAH 75.3 to 60.1, in the economy group from 41.3 to 40.8, and in super premium from 84.3 to 82.4.

Small bags are bought “to try”, and they are quietly more expensive. Pedigree Adult in a 2.6 kg bag comes to UAH 159.2/kg versus 147.1 for a 12 kg bag in the same store, Purina Pro Plan Medium Adult in 3 kg is 305.3 versus 257.3 for 14 kg. That is +8.3 and +18.7% for the same food, and a large bag removes the markup without any promotions.

Our own calculation based on prices as of 01.10.2026; activity per FEDIAF 2025, Table VII-7. The strongest factor is highlighted.

Where the store markup comes from is covered in the article on the manufacturer's price. You can repeat the same method for your own food.

How to calculate the daily cost of your food?

The daily cost is calculated in three steps: you need the dog's weight, the bag price and the food's energy content.

1. Calculate the daily requirement: 1.6 × 70 × (weight in kg)^0.75, or enter the weight in the portion calculator. For a 20 kg dog, that is 1,059 kcal.
2. Find the food's energy content. Among the 38 foods in the dataset, 19 manufacturers stated it; the DELICATE packaging does show the energy content. WSAVA notes that it is mandatory on the label only in the US, and where it is missing, you can ask the manufacturer for it or calculate it from the guaranteed analysis (WSAVA, 2021).
3. Divide the bag price by its total energy, get hryvnias per 1000 kcal and multiply by the dog's requirement.

Where the energy content is stated, the day based on it came out from 7.4% cheaper to 1.4% more expensive than our estimate, so the hryvnia figures in the tables are more of an upper limit. The Atwater formula was tested on 331 digestibility trials in dogs: it gave metabolizable energy within 0.16% of the measured value (Hall et al., PLoS One 2013).

Veterinary nutritionists also calculate in price per calorie (Kratzer et al., JAVMA 2022): in their work, dry foods came out cheapest compared with home-cooked recipes, which we covered separately in the article on dry food vs home-cooked food.

What is left is to do what the owner did not do at the start.

What to do with two bags in the store?

For a 20 kg dog, the median food comes to UAH 72.8 per day and UAH 2,182 per month, and in the bowl that is 278–335 g, depending on the food.

• If your dog weighs 20 kg and goes for two walks a day, that is 1,059 kcal per day, roughly 278–335 g of food and UAH 72.8 on the median food.
• If you are choosing between two bags, compare hryvnias per 1000 kcal, not per kilogram: the same calories may take 20% more grams of food.
• If your day costs more than UAH 73, you are above the median; UAH 41 is possible in the economy group.
• If you are holding a small bag, check the price of the large one: the markup was 8.3 and 18.7%.
• If your dog weighs a different amount, enter the weight in the portion calculator and multiply the kilocalories shown by the price of 1000 kcal.

The owner from the introduction was choosing between the bag price and the price per kilogram. There is a third answer: the daily cost, and for his dog it now has a number.

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