Canagan Grain-Free Light/Senior review

Few recipes built for lighter feeding reach our Excellent band, and this one does, while the typical adult dry food reads Good on the same measure. It gets there the unglamorous way: a big named-meat declaration, restrained carbohydrate and printed doses on every functional extra.

Ingredients, as declared: Freshly Prepared Free Range Chicken (27%), Dried Chicken (27%), Sweet Potato, Potato, Peas, Alfalfa, Dried Egg (3%), Chicken Fat (2.3%), Chicken Gravy (1.5%), Glucosamine (1,440 mg/kg), MSM (1,440 mg/kg), Apple, Carrot, Fructooligosaccharides, Spinach, Psyllium, Seaweed, Chondroitin Sulphate (1,050 mg/kg), Peppermint, Camomile, Marigold, Cranberry, Aniseed & Fenugreek.

The chicken comes as a deliberate even split, 27% freshly prepared and 27% dried. The dried half matters most in a kibble, since fresh meat gives up its water in the oven. It is why the protein converts to a muscular 37.0% of dry matter while fat sits at just 15.2%.

The starch is sweet potato, potato and peas. The carbohydrate estimate lands at 35.3% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Alfalfa and dried egg at 3% fill in minerals and a little complete protein.

The joint doses are the standout line on the label: glucosamine and MSM at 1,440 mg/kg apiece, with chondroitin sulphate printed just behind them. Plenty of foods sprinkle these; far fewer print figures at this level, and for the ageing dogs this recipe courts they are the right extras to lean on.

There is no salmon oil here, which makes this one of the rare complete dry foods that is genuinely fish free from top to bottom. The trade-off is honest: no marine omega 3s, with chicken fat at 2.3% as the named fat source.

Fructooligosaccharides bring a prebiotic nudge, and the herb tail from peppermint to fenugreek stays at trace level, present for the palate rather than for function.

£7.00 a kilo, in 2kg, 6kg and 12kg bags.

A 15kg adult in moderate condition gets through about 226 grams a day, around £1.58, working from the standard 840 kcal maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The label's own guide is leaner at 170 grams for that weight, which fits the light brief; let condition decide between the two.