Akela 90:10 Ultra Complete review

Our Outstanding band is where this one lands, a long way clear of the Good band that the typical adult dry food occupies, and the reasons are all printed on the pack. Animal ingredients make up the bulk of the recipe with every one named and weighted. Protein converts to 41.6% of dry matter, and carbohydrate stops at 23.7% where the typical adult dry food runs at 46.2%. Transparency reads Outstanding and the other three pillars all read Excellent, which very few dry foods manage across the board.

It sits in the top band on our scale, and the little ground left above it is a matter of degree, with no weakness on the label. There is nothing here a careful reader would want changed, only a handful of foods built denser still.

Ingredients, as declared: Dehydrated Chicken 29%, Dehydrated Herring 14%, Dehydrated Salmon 11%, Freshly Prepared Chicken 11%, Dehydrated Turkey 10%, Sweet Potato 7%, Freshly Prepared Salmon 7%, Freshly Prepared Chicken Liver 3%, Tapioca 2%, Chicken Fat 2%, Freshly Prepared Free Range Egg 1%, Chicken Stock 1%, Salmon Oil 1%, Minerals, Vitamins, Chick Pea Flour, Whole Linseed, Alfalfa, Lentils, Pre-biotic FOS 0.1%, Joint Support [Glucosamine 180mg/kg, MSM 180mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 125mg/kg], Dried Apple, Organic Peas, Dried Organic Spinach, Dried Organic Pumpkin, Dried Organic Carrot, Camomile, Marigold Petals, Aniseed & Fenugreek, Peppermint, Yucca Extract, Dried Seaweed, Dried Cranberry, Dried Dandelion Herb, Dried Pear, Rosemary, Fennel, Dried Blueberry, Dried Garlic, Rosehips, Dried Burdock Root, Organic Honey.

The animal list does the talking: dehydrated chicken at 29%, dehydrated herring at 14%, dehydrated salmon at 11%, freshly prepared chicken at 11% and dehydrated turkey at 10%. Then come chicken liver at 3%, chicken fat at 2%, free range egg at 1% and chicken stock at 1%. Most of that is in the dehydrated form, which matters more than it sounds. Dried meat has already lost its water, so what the label declares is close to what ends up in the finished kibble. Liver is worth its place too, a nutrient dense organ meat that dogs rarely refuse.

The analysis says the same thing the ingredients do. Protein converts to 41.6% of dry matter and fat to 21.1%, with carbohydrate estimated at 23.7% against 46.2% for the typical adult dry food. Those are the figures of a food written for dogs that actually work for a living.

What plant matter there is sits in a thin band under the meat: sweet potato at 7%, tapioca at 2%, then chickpea flour, whole linseed, alfalfa and lentils in smaller quantities. Tapioca is starch and very little else, but at 2% it is there to bind the kibble. Linseed brings plant omega 3s along with its fibre, and lentils add fibre and B vitamins to the mix.

The extras carry real doses, and that is the difference between a supplement and a marketing line. Joint support is printed as glucosamine at 180 mg/kg, MSM at 180 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg. Taurine comes in at 2000 mg/kg with L-carnitine at 1000 mg/kg, and pre-biotic FOS at 0.1% is there to feed the friendly bacteria in the large intestine. Biotin at 190 mcg/kg is a coat and claw nutrient more often left off a panel than put on it.

A long botanical tail runs from camomile and marigold petals through to rosehips and organic honey. It is flourish, and the substance of the food sits higher up the list. Dried garlic sits in there too and stops some owners short. At the far end of a list this long it is present at the trace level used as a herb, nowhere near the quantity that gives garlic its reputation.

Calcium at 2.16% of dry matter and ash at 11.4% both reflect how much bone travels with a recipe leaning this heavily on dried meat. For an adult dog that is unremarkable. For a large breed puppy it is the one figure on this label to take to your vet before the bag becomes their daily food.

£5.00 a kilo, sold in 1.5kg, 10kg and 30kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 223 grams a day of a food this dense, which works out at roughly £1.11 a day. That assumes a daily requirement of around 840 kcal, taken from the standard maintenance calculation of 110 × bodyweight^0.75. Portion to your dog's waistline rather than to a level scoop, since a dense food leaves less room for error either way.