What this is for: Works out dosing for animal experiments: how much compound each animal receives, what volume to administer per animal at your working concentration, and how much solution to prepare for the whole group.
The formulas: mg per animal = dose (mg/kg) × body weight (kg). Volume per animal = mg per animal ÷ concentration (mg/mL). In fixed-volume mode: required concentration (mg/mL) = mg per animal ÷ fixed volume (mL).
How to use:
- Name the compound and enter the dose (mg/kg, µg/kg, or mg per animal directly).
- Pick the species (typical adult weights are shown as guidance), enter your animals' weight and how many animals you are dosing.
- Either enter the working-solution concentration to get the volume per animal, or switch to fixed-volume mode, enter the volume you plan to give, and get the concentration you need to prepare.
- Check the route guidance warning, read the group totals (with +10% and +20% overage), and copy the dosing protocol into your record.
- Always confirm dose, route and maximum volumes against your approved animal protocol (IACUC / ethics approval) — this calculator only does the arithmetic.
Compound, dose & animals
Solution & dosing mode
Dose per animal (mg)
Concentration used (mg/mL)
Volume per animal (µL)
Volume per animal (mL)
Volume per kg (mL/kg)
Group total — compound (mg), exact
Group total — volume to prepare (mL), exact
With +10% overage — mg / mL (= animals' worth)
With +20% overage — mg / mL (= animals' worth)
Dosing protocol
Route volume guidance — mouse & rat (general guidance only)
Commonly cited maximum administration volumes. Your institution's approved protocol always wins over this table.
| Route | Mouse | Rat |
|---|---|---|
| IP — intraperitoneal | ~10 mL/kg | ~10 mL/kg |
| IV — intravenous (slow bolus) | ~5 mL/kg | ~5 mL/kg |
| SC — subcutaneous (per site) | ~10 mL/kg | ~5–10 mL/kg |
| PO — oral gavage | ~10 mL/kg | ~10 mL/kg |
| IM — intramuscular | ≤ 0.05 mL total | ≤ 0.1 mL per site |
| IN — intranasal | ~25–50 µL total | ~50–100 µL total |
| IT — intratracheal | ~50–80 µL total | ~100–300 µL total |
Body-surface & allometric scaling: converting a dose between species (e.g. mouse → rat → human) is not a straight mg/kg copy — use body-surface-area (Km) conversion. See the companion page: BSA & Allometric Dosing Calculator, which covers body surface area, mg/m² dosing and the FDA Km table. For per-animal dosing from individual (not average) weights, the Animal Dose Calculator workbook/page takes a list of weights.
This calculator is online-only for now — an Excel workbook version is planned. In the meantime, the related Animal Dose Calculator workbook (.xlsx) covers per-animal weight lists offline.
Notes & limits: This page does arithmetic only. Doses, vehicles, routes and maximum volumes must follow your approved animal protocol and institutional guidance; the route table above is general published guidance, not a protocol. If animals differ much in weight, dose each animal from its own weight (volume scales with weight at a fixed mg/kg dose and concentration). Molar concentrations (µM/mM/M) need the compound's molecular weight — pick the compound or type the MW from your bottle/data sheet, and check the salt/hydrate form.