AniForte PureNature Junior Menu review

Our Outstanding band takes this one in, one step above where the typical wet puppy food settles, so the company it keeps up there is strong and never easy. It finishes well ahead of that middle mark all the same.

Protein and processing, nutritional balance and transparency all read Outstanding, which is unusual. That comes from one source: a short list where almost every entry carries its own percentage, and a declared analysis that agrees with what the list promises.

Ingredients, as declared: 60.0% Chicken (Chicken Heart, Chicken Meat, Chicken Liver, Chicken Stomach, Chicken Neck), 26.0% Chicken Stock, 4.0% Carrots, 3.0% Courgettes, 2.0% Fennel, 2.0% Potatoes, 1.0% Raspberries, 1.0% Apples, 0.1% Egg Shell Powder, 0.1% Herbs (Dandelion, Yarrow, Fennel, Camomile), 0.1% Yeast, 0.1% Linseed, 0.1% Rapeseed Oil, 0.1% Desiccated Coconut, 0.1% Silica, 0.1% Spirulina, 0.1% Omega-3 Extract, 0.1% Seaweed Calcium.

Chicken at 60.0% is broken into heart, meat, liver, stomach and neck. That is an offal-rich build in the old-fashioned sense, and it is a good thing in a growth food. Liver in particular is one of the most nutrient dense foods a dog can eat, rich in vitamin B12 and vitamin A, with copper and iron alongside. Heart and neck bring muscle protein and connective tissue. Declared protein of 10.1% works out at 40.4% of dry matter, a strong figure for a tin.

Chicken stock at 26.0% is the cooking liquid from the same bird, so it adds flavour and moisture without introducing a second species. Adding the two together, 86% of the tin comes from the bird, and no other animal protein appears at all. The one qualification is the omega-3 extract in the tail, which names nothing, so a fish free plan needs it confirmed.

Carrots at 4.0%, courgettes at 3.0%, fennel at 2.0% and potatoes at 2.0% make up a small, named plant side, with raspberries and apples at 1.0% each. Carbohydrate is estimated at 6.0% as fed, which converts to 24.0% of dry matter against a 13.6% typical for wet puppy food. That estimate is made by difference, so everything the label does not declare separately lands inside it. In a food that is three quarters water, a small as-fed figure scales up quickly once the water is taken out.

The 0.1% tail is where the interesting extras sit. Egg shell powder and seaweed calcium cover the mineral side. Linseed and rapeseed oil bring the fats, and then there are spirulina, yeast, desiccated coconut, silica, an omega-3 extract, and a named herb blend of dandelion, yarrow, fennel and camomile. Individually these are garnish, but the two calcium sources are doing real work because no mineral panel is printed anywhere else.

Ash is declared at 2.2%, or 8.8% of dry matter, and calcium comes out at 0.96% of dry matter. That is a sensible level for growth, including for a pup who will finish large, where an oversupply is the more common problem. Fat at 6.1% converts to 24.4% of dry matter, so the tin is rich enough to matter in a small serving.

Energy works out at 108 kcal per 100g on our estimate, close to the 106 typical of a wet puppy food, since the label prints no calorie figure of its own. Fibre is minimal at 0.6%, which most puppy digestion handles without a second thought.

Sold in 400g cans.

No growing dog has a fixed daily amount, so take any figure as a starting point. From our standard energy estimate, a 10kg pup between 4 and 12 months of age works through roughly 655 to 800 grams a day. A wet diet fills the bowl faster than kibble does, so judge by your pup's shape as much as by the tin.