Ava Wet Food Adult Weight Management review

Our scoring puts this tin in the Average band, where transparency reads Outstanding while protein and processing and nutritional balance both come back Average. Adult wet food usually settles a good deal higher, in the Excellent band, so this one reads below where its shelf tends to sit.

The reasons sit right there on the label. One named meat at 26%, a large share of the tin given over to rice, minerals and brewers yeast, and an analysis trimmed of both fat and protein. That trimming is the point. A food designed to carry fewer calories per gram will always read leaner than a rich meat tin, and on its own terms this one is doing exactly the job it was drawn up for.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (26%), Brown Rice (10%), Minerals, Beet Pulp, Brewers Yeast, Sunflower Oil, Whole Dried Egg, Chicory Root Extract (as a source of Prebiotic Fructooligosaccharide) (0.040%), Yeasts (as a source of Beta-glucans and Prebiotic Mannanoligosaccharide) (0.028%), Glucosamine (0.025%), Chondroitin (0.010%), Yucca Extract (0.005%), Cranberry Extract (0.002%), Green Tea Extract (0.001%), Pomegranate Extract (0.001%)

The list starts with fresh chicken at 26%, and beyond whole dried egg there is no other animal ingredient in the tin. Dog food leans on chicken for good reason: it is palatable and it goes down easily with most digestions. The catch is that all that popularity brings more reported intolerance than any other meat.

Brown rice at 10% is the named starch, with beet pulp for fibre and brewers yeast behind it. Between them the carbohydrate converts to an estimated 44.0% of dry matter, well above the 15.8% typical for adult wet food, which is the single biggest thing separating this tin from a straight meat one.

The analysis is where the weight brief shows. Protein sits at 6.0% as fed, or 30.0% of dry matter, and fat at 3.0%, or 15.0% of dry matter. The energy works out at an estimated 77 kcal per 100g against the 97 kcal typical of adult wet food. That is roughly a fifth lighter per gram, which is what lets the bowl stay full while the calories come down.

L-carnitine at 25mg is the deliberate addition here. It has a central role in how the body handles fat, which is why weight-loss recipes tend to include it. Chicory root extract at 0.04% sits alongside it, with a yeast fraction at 0.028%, and both are prebiotics for the friendly gut bacteria. Glucosamine at 0.025% and chondroitin at 0.01% cover the joints, and traces of green tea, yucca, cranberry and pomegranate finish the panel.

Minerals appear high on the ingredient list and the numbers follow: crude ash converts to 10.0% of dry matter and calcium to 3.1%, which is a generous mineral load for adult maintenance. The trace elements themselves are in chelated form, generally the better absorbed option, with zinc at 16.05mg and copper at 2mg. Carrageenan, guar gum and the sodium and potassium salts are there to give the pâté its texture rather than to feed anybody.

£6.05 a kilo, in a single 395g tin.

Feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition comes to roughly 1087 grams a day, or about £6.57, on an assumed 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That is a shade under three tins, and a dog being fed to lose weight would be on less than a maintenance ration in any case.