Eukanuba Adult Small and Medium Rich In Lamb & Rice review

This lands in our Good band, the same band the adult dry shelf holds at its midpoint. It gets there with more in the bowl than the ordinary bag manages. Two things account for the gap and neither of them is exotic. Every animal ingredient is named to a species, with no vague poultry or unspecified animal fat anywhere, which is what lifts protein and processing and sends transparency to Outstanding. The analysis is a touch richer than the category norm too, with protein at 27.2% of dry matter against carbohydrate at 47.4%, only just above the 46.2% typical. Nutritional balance reads Average because that carbohydrate share is still doing real work in the recipe.

Ingredients, as declared: dried chicken and turkey (a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), lamb (14%), rice (14%), maize, sorghum, barley, pork fat, dried beet pulp (2.6%), chicken gravy, dried whole egg, linseed, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.35%), fructooligosaccharides (0.25%, a natural prebiotic), mannanoligosaccharides (0.13%, a natural prebiotic).

The protein backbone is dried chicken and turkey, and dried is the word that matters. Take the water out before baking and the meat keeps its place in the kibble. A fresh meat listed at the same percentage would shrink considerably in the oven. Lamb then joins at 14%, which is what gives the recipe its flavour and its name.

Most dogs take to lamb easily, since it is palatable and digests well. A dog that has spent years on chicken finds lamb a genuinely useful change of protein. Rice at 14% is the gentlest of the starches on the list and a sensible partner for it, with maize, sorghum and barley filling in behind. Barley is the pick of those three, easy on the gut once cooked and bringing a little fibre along, while maize and sorghum are straightforward starch that give the kibble its shape. Carbohydrate finishes at 43.7% as fed, or 47.4% of dry matter.

Linseed is the quiet highlight of the small print. It supplies omega 3 in its plant form together with fibre and natural antioxidants. A dog converts plant omega 3 more slowly than the marine version, but it does get there given a few weeks. Dried whole egg brings a little protein that digests very easily. Pork fat brings the energy, and it is named to its animal, not left as a vague animal fat.

Beet pulp at 2.6% brings the fibre. Fructooligosaccharides at 0.25% and mannanoligosaccharides at 0.13% are the prebiotics, and both encourage the good bacteria of the large intestine. The tooth entry is sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.35%. It works on plaque before it sets into tartar.

On the poultry meal the label claims glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine as natural sources. That is fair as far as it goes, since all three do occur naturally in meat and cartilage. There is no separately dosed joint supplement in this recipe, so treat it as background rather than a targeted addition.

The label declares energy at 370 kcal per 100 grams, and a declared figure counts in its favour. Calcium works out at 1.52% of dry matter, comfortably within adult range, and the panel is dosed in print with vitamin E at 250mg per kilo, zinc at 62.5mg and L-carnitine at 50mg.

Sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

For a 15kg adult in moderate condition the portion comes to roughly 227 grams a day, taking about 840 kcal a day as the target (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The bag's own table asks 235 to 270 grams for a 20kg dog, the same territory once you scale it. If the two disagree, your dog's waistline settles it.