We sell freeze-dried treats by weight, starting at a one kilogram minimum, and the most common hesitation we hear is the obvious one: a kilogram of treats? That will last forever.
It will last a while. Here is the arithmetic, so you can decide properly instead of guessing.
First: a kilogram of freeze-dried is not a kilogram of meat
It is more. Freeze drying removes water, and meat is mostly water. A kilogram of freeze-dried liver started out as roughly three to four kilograms of raw liver — the water left, the food stayed.
That cuts both ways. It means you are getting far more actual meat than the bag weight suggests, and it means the bag is enormous by volume. A kilogram of freeze-dried liver is a large bag of very light pieces, numbering in the hundreds. Do not picture a kilogram of steak.
The 10% rule
The general guidance vets give is that treats should stay at roughly 10% of a pet's daily food intake, with the other 90% coming from a complete, balanced diet. Single-protein treats are not balanced meals — that is not a flaw, it is what a treat is — so the 10% ceiling is what keeps them from displacing the nutrition your pet actually needs.
Translated into grams of freeze-dried treat per day, as a starting point:
- Cats and dogs under 5 kg: about 5–10 g a day
- 5–15 kg: about 10–15 g a day
- 15–30 kg: about 15–25 g a day
- Over 30 kg: about 25–40 g a day
These are starting points, not prescriptions. Activity level, age, body condition and what else is in the bowl all move the number. If your pet is on a prescription diet, is overweight, or has a health condition, ask your vet for a figure specific to them.
So how long does 1 kg last?
Divide. At the top of each band:
- A cat or a small dog at 5–10 g a day: a 1 kg bag runs somewhere in the range of three to six months.
- A 10 kg dog at 10–15 g a day: roughly two to three months.
- A 25 kg dog at 15–25 g a day: roughly six to nine weeks.
- A large dog over 30 kg, fed generously: four to six weeks.
Two households buying the same bag can be on completely different timelines, and both are fine. If you are running an active training programme, you will move through it far faster than someone handing out two treats an evening.
Where the 10% goes wrong
Not all single proteins are interchangeable at that ceiling.
- Liver is rich in vitamin A. It is excellent as a high-value reward and not something to feed by the handful, and that matters most for cats and small dogs, where the same gram is a much bigger share of the day.
- Oily fish — salmon, anchovies — is where digestive upset shows up if you go in hard. Start at the low end of the range and build.
- Lean muscle meat like chicken breast is the most forgiving, which is why it is the easiest thing to start a pet on.
Introduce any new protein over a few days rather than all at once, and keep fresh water available — freeze-dried food contains almost none.
Making a kilogram last properly
Freeze-dried treats are shelf-stable at room temperature. No freezer, no fridge. What ruins them is moisture getting back in, so:
- Keep the bag closed and press the seal shut firmly every time.
- A cool, dry cupboard beats a windowsill or a spot above the stove.
- Decant a week's worth into a small jar or treat pouch and leave the main bag shut, rather than opening the big bag twenty times a day.
- The tell: a good piece snaps. A piece that bends has picked up moisture.
If a kilogram is still more than you want to commit to
Reasonable — especially if you have never fed freeze-dried and do not yet know what your pet will take to. The Sampler Box is four separately packed 250 g bags: skin-on salmon, chicken hearts, beef liver and chicken breast slices. Same kilogram total, four chances to find the winner, flat $10 shipping across Canada.
Once you know which one your pet works for, come back for it by the kilogram and subscribe to save 10%. Free shipping across Canada starts at $200. Cat owners, the easiest formats to portion are in freeze-dried cat treats.