Eukanuba Daily Care Sensitive Skin review

A step behind the field is the honest summary: our Average band for this recipe and our Good band for the typical adult dry food. A short list is not automatically a strong one, and the arithmetic shows why. Protein converts to 23.9% of dry matter from a single meat entry, and estimated carbohydrate reaches 51.7% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Maize also takes first place in the order, ahead of the fish. The simplicity buys something the score cannot see. With eight entries on the label, nobody has to guess which one set an itchy dog off.

Ingredients, as declared: maize, fish meal (24%), pork fat, dried beet pulp (2.9%), fish gravy, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.38%), brewer's dried yeast (a natural source of B-vitamins and selenium), fructooligosaccharides (0.28%, a natural prebiotic).

Maize is first on the list. Most of what fills the kibble starts there. It binds well, brings starch and a little protein of its own, and it is the main reason estimated carbohydrate reaches 51.7% of dry matter. Whether that matters depends entirely on your dog, and the one to think twice for is a dog whose flare ups have ever been laid at maize's door.

Fish meal at 24% is the only protein source in the recipe, and because it goes in dried, all of that 24% stays in the finished food rather than cooking away. Fish meal is dense in amino acids, and the marine fats riding along with it are what sore skin and a dull coat need most. It is also what keeps poultry off this label. The one thing it will not do is name the fish, so if your dog has been narrowed down to a specific species, the label cannot confirm a match either way.

The fat is pork fat. Naming the animal outright tells you more than the vaguer wording plenty of labels settle for. It does mean a second animal is present, so the recipe is single protein without being single species. That distinction matters for anyone setting up a formal elimination trial. Fish gravy sits alongside it to keep the kibble appealing.

Two entries look after digestion, fructooligosaccharides at 0.28% and dried beet pulp at 2.9%. Brewer's dried yeast brings B vitamins and selenium, and sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.38% works against tartar. It is a spare list, and every entry on it is doing an identifiable job.

For a food with skin in its name, the supporting panel is the part to read closely. Skin leans on zinc more than any other trace mineral, and here it is dosed at 62.5mg per kilo of food in its amino acid chelate form. Vitamin E at 250mg and beta-carotene at 5mg back it up as antioxidants, and L-carnitine at 50mg is declared as well. Fat lands at 15.2% of dry matter, so there is plenty of energy behind a coat that needs rebuilding.

The bag is offered in two sizes, a small one and a 12kg.

As a rough guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 235 grams a day, working from around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own table lists 235 to 275 grams a day for a 20kg dog. Start there and let the first few weeks tell you whether to nudge it.