Eukanuba Grain Free Senior Large Breed Rich in Ocean Fish review

Our bands put this recipe in the Average band, with the middle of the adult dry shelf sitting a place above it. The senior thinking behind it is genuine: fat is pitched low for a dog that has slowed, and joint support is dosed rather than implied. L-carnitine at 100mg per kilo is the entry usually added where lean muscle and fat handling are the concern. The reading stays where it is largely because of proportions. Fish meal at 27% is a moderate animal share, carbohydrate converts to 49.2% of dry matter, and the fish is never pinned to a species. Protein and processing reads Poor, nutritional balance Average and transparency Excellent. For an older large dog with a settled stomach, it is still a steady, unfussy food.

Ingredients, as declared: fish meal (27%), dried sweet potatoes (20%), whole peas, dried potatoes, pork fat, sunflower oil, fish gravy, dried beet pulp (3%), minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.39%), fructooligosaccharides (0.29%, a natural prebiotic), mannanoligosaccharides (0.15%, a natural prebiotic), glucosamine (from animal tissues) (0.045%), chondroitin sulphate (0.01%).

Fish meal at 27% carries the whole protein load. Meal is dried well before the mixer, so the number on the label survives the cooking intact. Protein converts to 27.7% of dry matter and fat to 13.0%, which is a deliberately lean pairing. An older dog burning less energy on the same appetite is the dog this suits best; a big one still working hard will simply get through more of the bag.

The joint pair is the reason this label reads senior. Glucosamine from animal tissues is declared at 0.045% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.01%. Both are named and given a dose, with nothing left to the meat to supply on its own. The evidence for joint supplements is mixed and no kibble is a treatment, but a printed dose tells you far more than a photograph of a contented old dog on the front of a bag.

Two prebiotics work the gut instead of one. Fructooligosaccharides at 0.29% come from plant sources and mannanoligosaccharides at 0.15% from yeast cell walls. Between them they encourage the bacteria you want in the large intestine. Dried beet pulp at 3% provides the fibre beside them, at a modest level that steadies stools without padding the recipe out.

No cereal appears in the plant base, which is dried sweet potato at 20% with whole peas and dried potato. It does more of the carrying here than it would in a meatier recipe, with carbohydrate estimated at 49.2% of dry matter against the 46.2% average for adult dry food. Of the three, sweet potato does most for a dog, with fibre and vitamin A alongside its starch. Beet pulp keeps the fibre side honest.

The two fats are named to source. Pork fat and sunflower oil beat the catch-all wording found on some labels. The additive panel is dosed line by line, taurine at 500mg, vitamin E at 250mg, zinc at 62.5mg and L-carnitine at 100mg per kilo. Calcium works out at 1.2% of dry matter, and the only real question the label leaves open is the identity of the fish itself.

Sold in a 12kg bag.

Using the standard maintenance estimate, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), which this kibble delivers in roughly 240 grams. For the size of dog this food actually targets, the label's own table asks 755 to 875 grams a day at 90kg. Scale from there and let the waistline do the fine tuning.