Etekcity
Etekcity Food Kitchen Scale EK6015, Digital Grams and Ounces, 11 lb
$10.99 on Amazon, In Stock, Amazon.com buy box, read via the Creators API 2026-09-08. There is no direct channel worth chasing at this price; any gram scale already in the house does the same job for free
Check price on AmazonWe earn a commission if you buy through this link. It does not change what we recommend or how we score it — see our affiliate disclosure.
Best for
A growing large-breed puppy, or any dog whose hips have been graded loose, in a household that currently feeds by the cup
The cheapest object on this site backed by a lifelong paired-feeding trial. In 48 Labrador Retrievers fed from eight weeks of age, the 24 dogs fed 25% less than their pair-mates had hip dysplasia by OFA score in 7 cases at two years against 16 in the free-fed group, and their median age at first radiographic hip osteoarthritis was 12 years against 6. That result was produced by weighing food, every meal, for life. Separately, when 100 owners measured kibble with a cup or scoop, individual error ran from 47.83% under to 152.17% over. A gram scale closes that gap for eleven dollars. Buy this one or any other with 1 g resolution; the brand is not the point. What it cannot do is pick the target — that is a body condition score, set with your vet, and re-weighed monthly.
What works
- Weighs in 1 g increments to 5 kg / 11 lb, which is the resolution a dog's daily ration actually needs — the feeding intervention with the strongest controlled-trial evidence for reducing hip dysplasia was a 25% restriction, and a quarter of a ration is not something a scoop can hold steady
- Tare button, so the bowl goes on first and the display reads the food alone
- Five units (g, oz, lb:oz, mL, fl oz); the one that matters is grams, because every feeding chart on a dog-food bag is in grams or in cups, and only one of those is repeatable
- Flat 304 stainless steel platform that wipes clean; 0.75 in tall, so it lives on the counter next to the food bin rather than in a drawer
- Two AAA batteries included; the maker states a 2-year warranty on the listing
What doesn't
- A scale tells you how much you fed. It does not tell you how much to feed. The 25% figure from the Labrador trials was 25% below what a pair-mate ate ad libitum, which is not a number you can read off a bag; the feeding target still has to come from a body condition score agreed with your vet
- The 5 kg limit is generous for a bowl of kibble but too small to weigh a bag, and it is a food scale, not a dog scale — weighing the dog is a separate monthly job most clinics will do for free
- The listing carries no star rating we can read and we have not used this unit; the recommendation rests on the resolution and the price, not on durability we have observed
- Battery-only; no USB or mains. Reviewer complaints in this category are overwhelmingly about auto-off timing and battery drain, and we could not verify either for this model
Specifications
- Materials
- Per the Amazon listing on 2026-09-08: 304 food-grade stainless steel platform, backlit LCD, 5 kg / 11 lb capacity in 1 g increments, tare function, units oz / lb:oz / fl oz / g / mL, model EK6015, 7.56 × 0.75 in, 0.44 lb, 2 AAA batteries included
- Warranty
- 2 years, as stated in the Amazon listing manufacture info on 2026-09-08; terms not read at source
- Made in
- Not stated on the Amazon listing on 2026-09-08
Why a food scale is on an orthopedic site
Because it is the only purchase on this page that a controlled trial actually supports for hips.
In a lifelong paired-feeding study of 48 Labrador Retrievers, reported in the veterinary literature in 1992 and again in 2006, puppies were paired by sex and weight at six weeks; from eight weeks, one dog in each pair was fed 25% less than whatever its pair-mate ate freely, for life. At two years, using the OFA method on the hip-extended film, 7 of the 24 restricted dogs were graded dysplastic against 16 of the 24 free-fed dogs. Followed to the end of life, the restricted group's median age at first radiographic sign of hip osteoarthritis was 12 years; the free-fed group's was 6.
Nothing in the joint-supplement aisle has a result like that, and the whole intervention was a weighed ration.
What "25% less" does not mean
It does not mean cut your dog's food by a quarter. The restricted dogs ate 25% less than a free-fed littermate, and free-fed Labradors eat a great deal. The target for your dog is a body condition, agreed with your vet and re-checked on a scale monthly. The kitchen scale is the instrument that lets you move the ration in 10 g steps and know the step happened.
The cup problem, measured
The reason the instrument matters was measured in 2019. One hundred dog owners were randomly given a one-cup dry-food measuring cup, a two-cup graduated liquid cup, or a two-cup commercial scoop, and asked to measure a quarter, half and one cup of kibble. Checked against a gram scale, individual accuracy ranged from 47.83% under to 152.17% over, and both the device and the volume changed the error. A dog fed "one cup, twice a day" by the scoop is being fed a different amount by each adult in the house, and possibly by the same adult on different days.
Who should not buy it
Anyone who already owns a scale with a tare button and gram resolution. Anyone feeding a raw or wet diet in pre-portioned packs, where the portion is already weighed. And anyone hoping the scale will tell them the right amount: it will not, and the bag's feeding chart is a starting point at best.
Head to head: this scale against the free alternative
The free alternative is the bathroom scale, monthly: weigh yourself, weigh yourself holding the dog, subtract. That tracks the outcome and is worth doing regardless. What it cannot do is make the daily input repeatable, and it fails above about 40 lb of dog for most people's arms. The two are not competitors; the bathroom scale is the monthly check, the kitchen scale is the daily one.
Frequently asked
- How much should I actually cut if the trial used 25% less?
- Do not copy the number. In the Labrador trials the restricted dog ate 25% less than what its littermate chose to eat when fed freely, and free-fed Labradors overeat; the figure describes the gap between two dogs, not a target for yours. The practical version is: weigh what you feed now, have your vet score body condition, and adjust the grams until the dog holds a lean score with a visible waist. The scale makes the adjustment repeatable. It does not choose it.
- Is a gram scale really more accurate than the measuring cup that came with the food?
- Yes, and the size of the difference is the finding. In a 2019 study, 100 dog owners were each handed one of three devices — a one-cup dry-food measuring cup, a two-cup graduated liquid cup, or a two-cup commercial scoop — and asked to measure a quarter, half and one cup of kibble. Their individual error against an electronic gram scale ranged from 47.83% under to 152.17% over, and was worst at the smallest volumes. A scale removes the device and the eye from the measurement.
- Do I need a pet-specific scale?
- No. Pet scales are for weighing the animal, not the food, and they cost two to four times as much. Any kitchen scale with 1 g resolution and a tare button does this job. If you already own one, you do not need to buy this.
- Will this help a dog who already has hip dysplasia?
- Weight is the largest modifiable factor in canine osteoarthritis, and two small clinical studies found lameness improved in obese arthritic dogs after weight loss alone. A scale is how the ration stays honest through that process. It does nothing for the joint directly, and it is not a substitute for the pain plan.
Where we recommend it
The articles this product earns a place in, and the context it earns it for.
