Carnilove Pate Cans: Duck & Pheasant review

Every one of the five cans reaches our Outstanding band, and they finish close together, the turkey, reindeer and wild boar can nosing marginally ahead of the rest. A typical adult wet tin already sits in our Excellent band, since the category scores well with us, and these cans clear that middle of the shelf.

Protein and processing reads Excellent on every can and transparency Outstanding throughout, with nutritional balance coming back Outstanding on all but the adult turkey and salmon can, which reads Excellent.

Ingredients, as declared: Duck (41%), water, pheasant (26%), blackcurrant (2%), pea flour (2%), lignocellulose (1%), calcium carbonate (0.3%).

The meat is the whole story. Two or three named animals account for just over two thirds of each can, always with a percentage beside them. You are told that the duck and pheasant can is 41% duck and 26% pheasant, no guesswork needed. Protein converts to between 36.4% and 45.5% of dry matter across the range, and fat sits in the high twenties to mid thirties, which is a proper pâté rather than a light loaf.

Water is declared in its own right and not folded quietly into the meat percentage. That is the honest way of writing a wet label. Blackcurrant at 2% is the only fruit on the list, and at that level it is flavour and colour.

Pea flour at 2% and lignocellulose at 1% are the two entries worth a second look. Milled from roasted peas, pea flour carries useful fibre and minerals, though the protein it brings is not as usable to a dog as protein from meat. Lignocellulose is purified plant fibre, a white powder that adds bulk and next to no calories. It does what fibre should do, though we would always rather see that job done by a vegetable you can name.

Calcium carbonate at 0.3% brings calcium to 0.91% of dry matter, a comfortable level for an adult dog and one that clears the tighter requirement for a large breed puppy on the growth can. The added panel is dosed throughout: vitamin E at 110 mg per kilo, zinc at 20 mg, iron at 8.0 mg, manganese at 2.4 mg, biotin at 0.5 mg and taurine at 800 mg. Taurine is an amino acid dogs make for themselves, but heart-conscious makers often add it anyway.

Duck at 41% with pheasant at 26%, the only can here built on two birds of that kind. Protein converts to 38.6% of dry matter and fat to 31.8%, on a declared 107 kcal per 100g.

These come as 400g cans, sold in packs of 6.

On an energy basis, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat between 743 and 804 grams a day of these cans, working from a maintenance estimate of about 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75). A growing puppy on the Turkey & Salmon can eats well above that for its size.