Eukanuba Senior Large Breed Rich in Lamb & Rice review

Our scoring lands on the Good band here, the same band that covers the middle of the adult dry shelf. It is earned in unglamorous ways. Every animal on the label is named, from the chicken and turkey blend at the top through lamb, egg, pork fat and fish oil. The joint and gut additions carry printed percentages instead of vague mentions. The vitamin and trace element panel is complete and specified line by line. Set against that, protein converts to 26.1% of dry matter and carbohydrate to 51.0%, so this is a grain-inclusive recipe that leans on its cereals. Nutritional balance reads Average, with protein and processing, transparency and value all Good.

Ingredients, as declared: dried chicken and turkey (a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), lamb (14%), rice (14%), maize, barley, sorghum, pork fat, dried beet pulp (2.6%), chicken gravy, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.34%), dried whole egg, fructooligosaccharides (0.25%, a natural prebiotic), brewer's dried yeast (a natural source of B-vitamins and selenium), fish oil (a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), mannanoligosaccharides (0.13%, a natural prebiotic), glucosamine (from animal tissues) (0.04%), chondroitin sulphate (0.004%).

A dried chicken and turkey blend is the first entry, and that order tells you something the front of the bag does not. The water is out of dried meat before it goes in, and an entry in that form, high on the list, contributes a great deal to the finished kibble. Glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine are credited to that blend on the label, fair enough given they travel with cartilage and meat. No percentage is put on the blend, and that is the one figure a curious owner would most like to see.

Lamb is declared at 14% and rice at the same 14%. Lamb is a straightforwardly good meat for a dog. It is palatable and easy on the digestion, and it gives the recipe a red meat character the poultry above it does not. Of the common cereals, rice is the kindest to a dog's gut. That is why senior and sensitive recipes lean on it so often.

Maize and barley follow the rice, with sorghum after them. Between them the cereals carry a lot of this food. Barley brings fibre and useful trace minerals along with its starch. Sorghum is a workaday starch that behaves much like maize, without the gluten. Of the three, maize is the plainest. Carbohydrate is estimated at 51.0% of dry matter, where 46.2% is usual for adult dry food. A low starch bowl is not what this recipe is trying to be.

The senior additions are dosed rather than hinted at. Glucosamine from animal tissues sits at 0.04% with chondroitin sulphate at 0.004%. L-carnitine is declared at 50mg per kilo, where fat handling and lean muscle are the concern. Two prebiotics work the gut, fructooligosaccharides at 0.25% and mannanoligosaccharides at 0.13%. The fibre stays gentle for an older digestion, with dried beet pulp at 2.6%.

Fish oil is a better omega 3 source than any seed, since it arrives in the forms a dog can put to use straight away. Its presence means the recipe carries fish, even though nothing on the front of the bag suggests it. Protein and a savoury edge come from dried whole egg, with brewer's dried yeast alongside. Tartar is the job of sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.34%. Calcium comes out at 1.63% of dry matter, a generous adult level. Vitamin E is dosed at 250mg and zinc at 62.5mg per kilo, with tocopherol extracts at 11mg holding the fats fresh.

£3.75 a kilo, sold in a 12kg bag.

Feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, the maintenance estimate of about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75) puts the bowl at roughly 240 grams, which is £0.90 a day. A big dog will get through much more than that. The label's own table asks 755 to 875 grams a day at 90kg.