Tool
Pet Emergency Supply Calculator
Every authority publishes emergency supply numbers per pet. Almost none show the arithmetic once you multiply by a real household. Enter your dogs and cats below and this does the multiplication: water, food, medication, and litter totals for a 72-hour, 7-day, or 2-week supply, with a printable shopping list. Every figure comes from a published source (ASPCA, AVMA, CDC, and vet-reviewed PetMD), with the honest caveats shown next to each number.
The interactive calculator runs in your browser with JavaScript on. The sourced formulas and worked ranges are right below either way, so you can run the numbers by hand.
Have birds, rabbits, reptiles, or other pets? They don’t follow a per-pound formula, so they’re not in the calculator above. Size their supplies per animal using the species guides, for examplerabbits and small pets andbirds.
How these numbers are calculated, and sourced
The calculator is the interactive version of our fully-workedGo-Bag Math breakdown. Here is every coefficient it uses and where each comes from, so nothing above is a number we invented.
Water
Dogs: PetMD, reviewed by Jennifer Larsen, DVM, PhD, DACVN, puts daily water need at about1 ounce per pound of body weight per day, framed as a general estimate that varies by the individual dog. Cats: no vet-published ounce-per-pound formula exists, so the tool applies the same rate to cats as a clearly-labeled working estimate and leans on the ASPCA/AVMA 7-day duration, not a per-pound veterinary figure.
| Dog weight | Daily water (1 oz/lb) | 7-day supply |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lb | 10 oz | 70 oz (0.55 gal) |
| 25 lb | 25 oz | 175 oz (1.4 gal) |
| 50 lb | 50 oz | 350 oz (2.7 gal) |
| 90 lb | 90 oz | 630 oz (4.9 gal) |
Food
Food is a planning range, not a fixed number: calorie density varies by product, and PetMD’s own vet-authored feeding guidance tells readers to use their bag’s printed chart. The tool uses these daily dry-food ranges and converts cups to pounds at roughly 3.5-4.5 cups per pound, then multiplies by your duration. Confirm against your own bag before buying a container sized to hold it.
| Animal | Typical daily dry food |
|---|---|
| Cat (8-12 lb) | 0.25-0.5 cup |
| Small dog (up to 25 lb) | 0.75-1.5 cups |
| Medium dog (26-50 lb) | 1.5-2.5 cups |
| Large dog (over 50 lb) | 2.5-4 cups |
Medication and litter
Medication: the ASPCA, AVMA, and CDC all publish a 2-week (14-day) supply per medicated pet, in a waterproof, per-pet-labeled container, rotated so it doesn’t expire. Litter:Cats.com’s rule of thumb is one box per cat plus one extra (so 2 cats need 3 boxes). No veterinary body or manufacturer publishes a per-cat, per-day litter weight, so the tool gives you the box count and tells you to pack enough to service them for the trip, rather than inventing a weight figure.
These are general planning estimates, not a prescription for your pet. Your veterinarian and your pet food’s own feeding chart take precedence over any general figure here, especially for medication.
Free checklist
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Frequently asked questions
How much water should I pack per pet in an emergency?
The ASPCA and AVMA both recommend at least 7 days of water per pet. For dogs, a vet-reviewed formula (PetMD, reviewed by Jennifer Larsen, DVM, PhD, DACVN) puts daily need at roughly 1 ounce per pound of body weight, so a 50 lb dog needs about 50 oz (0.4 gal) a day. No equivalent vet-sourced formula exists for cats, so this calculator applies the same rate to cats as a labeled working estimate, not a veterinary figure.
How many days of food should I store for a dog or cat?
The ASPCA recommends 7-10 days of food per pet and the AVMA recommends 3-7 days, both rotated regularly. 7 days sits inside both ranges, which is why it is the default here. The food weights this tool shows are planning ranges converted at roughly 3.5-4.5 cups of dry kibble per pound; your own food bag’s feeding chart is the authoritative number.
How much medication should be in a pet emergency kit?
The ASPCA, AVMA, and CDC all independently land on a 2-week (14-day) supply of any medication your pet needs, kept in a waterproof, clearly labeled container and rotated so it does not expire. This calculator counts a 14-day supply for each pet you mark as being on medication.
What about birds, rabbits, reptiles, or other pets?
Those species do not have a published per-pound water or food formula, so this calculator covers dogs and cats only rather than inventing a number. For other animals, size supplies by the species-specific guidance in our other guides and pack per animal.