Belcando Adult Dinner M-XL review

Our Average band is where this lands, a step under the typical adult dry food, and the reading is straightforward. Generic naming caps the transparency, poultry rather than a bird and a palm and coconut blend labelled as vegetable oil, while carbohydrate runs to an estimated 51.1% of dry matter against a typical 46.2%. In its favour, the meat declaration is honest, every additive is dosed and nothing on the list needs an apology.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh poultry meat (30%); Corn; Low-ash dried poultry protein (16%); Rice; Potato starch (14%); Fish meal from sea fish (3%); Dried sugar beet pulp; Dried carob bean gum; Grape seed expeller (2.5%); Dried baker's yeast; Dicalcium phosphate; Chia seeds; Hydrolyzed poultry liver; Poultry fat; Vegetable oil (palm, coconut); Sodium chloride; Potassium chloride; Dried herbs (total: 0.2%; Nettle leaf, Gentian root, Centaury, Chamomile, Fennel, Caraway, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Blackberry leaves); Yucca schidigera

The build mirrors its Active stablemate: 30% fresh poultry meat up front, most of whose weight will leave as water in the oven, with 16% dried low-ash poultry protein doing the durable work behind it. Protein converts to a moderate 25.6% of dry matter and fat to 11.7%, deliberately restrained for dogs that do not run their dinners off.

Corn, rice and 14% potato starch share the carrying, taking estimated carbohydrate to 51.1% of dry matter. The potato starch is energy rather than nourishment, so this is a bowl with a substantial plant side, and dried sugar beet pulp with carob bean gum looks after the fibre.

The finer touches include chia seeds for plant omega 3s, 3% fish meal for the marine sort, hydrolysed poultry liver to keep the bowl appealing, and a herb blend printed at a candid 0.2%. Lecithin at 400mg aids fat digestion, and calcium converts to 1.44% of dry matter, unremarkable for a recipe aimed at bigger adults.

Grape seed expeller at 2.5% can stop a reader who knows the rule about dogs and grapes, but the pressed seed residue is an antioxidant source and not where the fruit's toxicity lies. The honest reservation is the naming: poultry meat, poultry fat and poultry liver never declare a species. A household chasing an intolerance has nothing firm to hold on to, though most dogs will simply eat and thrive.

Bags come in 4kg and 12.5kg at £3.86 a kilo.

Around 254 grams a day covers a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition against an estimated 840 kcal requirement (110 × bodyweight^0.75), costing roughly £0.98 a day. The label itself suggests 200 grams for that dog, so start between the two figures and adjust to the waistline; the calorie number is an estimate, as none is declared.