Arden Grange Sensitive Light/Senior: Venison & Potato review

Both varieties settle in our Average band, a step under the typical adult dry food. Transparency reads Outstanding on the venison and Good on the fish, nutritional balance reads Poor on both, and protein and processing is Average on the fish and Poor on the venison. Nothing in that reading should alarm you: these are steady middle order recipes, and the case for them rests on the lighter brief and the digestive care rather than on headline meat content.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh venison 26%, sweet potato 20%, potato 17%, beet pulp, potato protein, refined chicken oil, pea protein, yeast, whole linseed, vegetable stock, whole egg powder, dried krill, minerals, citrus extracts (0.1%), (prebiotic) fructooligosaccharides FOS, (prebiotic) mannan-oligosaccharides MOS, glucosamine (888mg/kg), (MSM) methylsulfonylmethane (888mg/kg), chondroitin sulphate (624mg/kg), dried elderberries (340mg/kg), dried rosehips (230mg/kg), yucca extract, black pepper (200mg/kg), dried blackcurrants (200mg/kg), dried blackberries (190mg/kg), dried blueberries (150mg/kg), dried raspberries (150mg/kg), curcumin (100mg/kg), dried cranberries, nucleotides.

The pair take different roads to the same analysis. Ocean white fish meal at 23% anchors one recipe with just 4% fresh fish behind it, while the other starts from 26% fresh venison and tops up with potato protein and pea protein. Both finish with protein at 23.9% of dry matter, a comfortable level for a lighter feed.

No grain appears on either list. In both varieties the starch duty falls to sweet potato and potato. The carbohydrate estimate of 49.6% of dry matter lands a little above the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Digestive support is the quiet strength of the range: beet pulp for fibre, the prebiotics FOS and MOS to encourage the friendly gut bacteria, and yeasts alongside. This is where the Sensitive in the name earns its keep.

Glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin feature on both labels, joined by a berry and botanical tail dosed in print, from elderberries at 340 mg/kg down to curcumin at 100 mg/kg.

The Sensitive name here is about digestion, not allergy control. Refined chicken oil supplies fat in both recipes, egg adds to the protein and krill brings marine omega 3s, so a household avoiding chicken, egg or fish on principle should read those entries before choosing.

Fresh venison at 26% heads this list, topped up by potato protein and pea protein. For a dog that has grown weary of the common meats, this is the natural pick. The joint trio is dosed in print here, glucosamine and MSM at 888 mg/kg each with chondroitin sulphate at 624 mg/kg, and taurine is added at 1,200 mg. The chicken oil, egg powder and krill still stand between it and a true single protein recipe.

Both varieties are £5.83 a kilo. The fish comes in 2kg and 14kg bags, the venison in 2kg and 12kg, and each size is also sold as a multi bag bundle.

For a 15kg adult in moderate condition, the standard maintenance formula of 110 kcal per kilo of metabolic bodyweight puts the fish at about 248 grams and £1.45 a day. The venison works out at about 239 grams and £1.39 a day.