Clinivet Adult Junior review

This recipe finishes in our Average band, a step behind the Good band that holds the typical adult dry food. The shortfall is concentrated in one place. Protein and processing reads Average because every animal ingredient hides behind the word poultry, nutritional balance reads Average alongside it, and transparency reads Good. A young dog will find perfectly serviceable fuel here; a label reader will find less to hold on to.

Ingredients, as declared: Poultry meal (26%), brown rice (22%), maize, poultry fat (8%), oats, poultry digest (3%), beet pulp, dried egg powder, whole linseeds, brewers yeast, fishmeal, salmon oil, minerals, fructooligosaccharides (458mg/kg), manna oligosaccharides (458mg/kg), yucca extract, glucosamine (200mg/kg), methylsulfonylmethane (200mg/kg), rosemary, chondroitin sulphate (150mg/kg).

Poultry meal at 26% is the anchor, a concentrated dried protein that helps the analysis to 28.3% protein in dry matter. Poultry fat at 8% and poultry digest at 3% follow it, the digest being a rendered palatant applied to make the kibble irresistible. All three entries share the same weakness: poultry is a category, not a bird, and it can change from batch to batch.

Brown rice at 22%, maize and oats form the cereal base. Estimated carbohydrate lands at 42.9% of dry matter, a touch below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food, because the fat is doing more of the calorie carrying here.

The tail of the list earns its space. Egg powder and fishmeal are dense proteins, linseed and salmon oil split the omega 3 duties between plant and marine forms, and rosemary works as a natural antioxidant.

The supplements are dosed properly, with prebiotic FOS and MOS at 458 mg/kg each, glucosamine and MSM at 200 mg/kg, and chondroitin sulphate at 150 mg/kg. The vitamin panel is pitched high for young dogs, with vitamin A at 22,300 IU and beta carotene added. The trace minerals mix chelated and standard forms, and the selenium is supplied as yeast, not sodium selenite.

The missing number is calcium. For a small or medium young adult that is a modest gap; for a large breed still building bone it is the figure to ask the maker about before committing.

£3.29 a kilo, in 4kg and 12kg bags.

Fed to a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, that comes out near 230 grams and £0.76 a day, taking the usual maintenance estimate of about 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The energy value is estimated rather than declared.