Acana Adult Small Breed Recipe review

An Excellent band finish, a step clear of the Good the typical adult dry food manages. Nothing exotic drives the difference: named meats in sensible quantities, legumes in place of cereal and a fully dosed additive panel simply keep adding up.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh chicken (14%), chicken meal (14%), whole red lentils, whole green peas, whole chickpeas, turkey meal (6.5%), chicken fat (6%), fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (4%), fresh egg (4%), raw hake (4%), fish oil (4%), herring meal (3%), whole green lentils, whole yellow peas, lentil fibre, pea starch, raw turkey liver (0.5%), salt, dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, dried chicory root, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh turnip greens, fresh beet greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

Fresh chicken and chicken meal share the top of the list at 14% each, and the split matters. The fresh form cooks down while the meal keeps its weight, so the pairing keeps the finished kibble genuinely chicken-led. Turkey meal at 6.5% and chicken giblets at 4% add depth, and protein converts to 35.2% of dry matter.

Chicken fat at 6% and fish oil at 4% carry the energy, which is where the 17% fat figure comes from. For a small, busy dog, that density is the point of the recipe.

Raw hake at 4% and herring meal at 3% put named fish on the list, useful protein variety and a second source of omega 3s alongside the oil.

Every bit of the starch is legume. The list runs lentils red and green, peas green and yellow, chickpeas, pea starch, lentil fibre. Estimated carbohydrate converts to 31.8% of dry matter, comfortably below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

The garnish list runs from pumpkin to rosehips and sits at trace level, so enjoy it on the bag rather than counting on it in the bowl. More usefully, the trace minerals and vitamins are dosed in print, calcium works out at 1.59% of dry matter, and a live probiotic strain rounds off the panel.

£7.50 a kilo, sold in 340g, 2kg and 6kg bags.

A 15kg adult in moderate condition would get through about 239 grams a day, which comes to £1.79, worked from the standard maintenance sum of 110 × bodyweight^0.75 kcal. The dogs this food is aimed at are mostly lighter than that, so scale by the label's own table and the waistline in front of you.