How to Weigh Your Cat or Dog at Home

Weighing Your Pet

Here at Protect My Pet, we need to know your pet’s weight so we can ensure they are getting the correct treatment. Your pet’s weight should be recorded in kilograms (kg), this is the unit used to calculate medication doses.

Dogs

Your local veterinary practice will most likely have large, accurate weighing scales in their reception area, and will be happy for you to call in and weigh your dog for free anytime.  The benefit of doing this is that your vet has a record of your dog’s weight, this will allow them to spot trends of increasing or decreasing weight over time.  It is also good for your dog to visit the vet without being examined or injected, as it can help create positive associations, particularly if the reception staff like to give out treats and belly rubs.

If you have a smaller dog who can be easily picked up, then you can weigh yourself at home, then weigh yourself holding your dog and find the difference. The accuracy of this method will depend on your bathroom scales. 

Cats

Veterinary practices will have specific cat scales, these scales have a large stable area for your cat to sit comfortably. In fact, most cats love trying to sit on the scales during veterinary examinations. As an alternative to using cat scales, you can weigh your cat in their basket on the floor scales, then remove the cat in a safe enclosed room and weigh the basket.

At home you can also use the difference of your cat in their basket and the basket alone on the bathroom scales to find their weight.  This method may not be as accurate as using the scales in a veterinary practice that are calibrated to one or two decimal places.