Carnilove Active Adult Large Breed review

A place in our Excellent band puts this food a step above the typical adult dry food, which finishes in Good. Heavy protein declaration, restrained carbohydrate and a purposeful additive list do the earning; nothing about the recipe reads accidental.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh salmon (26%), turkey protein (24%), yellow peas, beef fat (9%), turkey hydrolysed protein (7%), dried apple pulp, pea protein, hydrolysed liver (3%), chickpeas, linseed, pumpkin, salmon oil (1%), carrots, potassium chloride, pea flour, dried sea buckthorn (0.2%), dried ginger root (0.1%), dried blueberries (0.1%), dried rosemary (0.1%), dried cranberries (0.1%), dried thyme (0.1%), hydrolysed crustacean shells (source of glucosamine, 0.022%), chicory root (source of fructo-oligosaccharides, 0.0163%), cartilage extract (source of chondroitin, 0.014%), brewer's yeast (source of mannan-oligosaccharides, 0.013%), Mojave yucca (0.0085%).

The construction is fresh salmon at 26% for palatability with turkey protein at 24% for substance, and because the turkey arrives already dried, it contributes at least as much finished protein as the headline fish. Add hydrolysed turkey at 7% and liver at 3% and the analysis lands at 35% protein, or 38.9% of dry matter.

Yellow peas, chickpeas and pea flour hold the kibble together, with estimated carbohydrate at 32.5% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. No grain appears anywhere on the list.

The energy comes from beef fat at 9%, and the marine omega 3s from salmon oil at 1%. Fat overall is 15%, measured for a big frame that needs fuel without ballast, and the energy density comes to 370 kcal per 100g.

Taurine at 1,500 mg/kg is a serious dose aimed at the heart, well worth having in the biggest breeds, with choline at 2,400 mg/kg and a complete B vitamin line-up behind it.

Glucosamine from hydrolysed crustacean shells and chondroitin from cartilage extract are both declared with their percentages, small but printed. Calcium sits at 1.67% of dry matter, an unremarkable level for an adult food of this kind.

£6.25 a kilo, sold in 1.5kg, 4kg and 12kg bags.

Expect around 227 grams and £1.42 a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, on the standard 840 kcal maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The large dogs this food is aimed at will scale that up considerably, and genuinely working ones more again.