Fish4Dogs Finest Salmon Senior review

This one comes to rest in our Good band. The middle of the adult dry market sits there too. The case for it is straightforward. Every animal ingredient is salmon and each carries its own percentage, protein converts to 28.3% of dry matter while fat stays at 10.9%, and the senior extras come with printed doses, not just a mention. The starch, estimated at 48.8% of dry matter, keeps it from climbing further, as does a mineral declaration that names only iodine. Transparency is Outstanding. Value reads Good, while protein and processing and nutritional balance both come out Average.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon (28%), Sweet Potato (26%), Pea Starch, Salmon Meal (13%), Beet Pulp, Salmon Oil (5%), Brewers Yeast, Sunflower Oil, Minerals, Prebiotic-FOS (0.4%).

Salmon is the entire animal story: 28% salmon, 13% salmon meal and 5% salmon oil, each with its own figure. Most of the water in that fresh salmon goes during baking, which makes the meal the entry to watch. At 13% it is a solid contribution to the protein that ends up in the bowl. The oil is the part an older dog notices most, since marine omega 3 comes ready to use with no conversion needed.

Sweet potato at 26% is the main plant entry, with pea starch behind it. Sweet potato releases its energy more gently than most cereals and brings a helping of fibre along. Pea starch is the refined part of the pea, working as a binder more than as a nutrient. Beet pulp adds the fermentable fibre that keeps an older dog regular, and brewers yeast lifts the smell of the bowl.

The senior touches are dosed rather than implied. Prebiotic FOS is declared at 0.4%, feeding the gut's own good bacteria, and beta glucans arrive at 1 g per kilo. Taurine is added at 1 g as well, an amino acid dogs largely make for themselves but one commonly topped up in fish based recipes. Vitamin A at 22,500 IU, vitamin D3 at 900 IU and vitamin E at 700 IU per kilo complete the declared panel, alongside iodine at 1.6 mg. Tocopherol extracts from vegetable oils keep the food fresh, and no synthetic antioxidant is used.

The analysis suits the years it is aimed at. Protein converts to 28.3% of dry matter, plenty for holding muscle on an older dog. Fat at 10.9% keeps energy moderate at 351 kcal per 100 grams, against 357 for the typical adult dry food. Carbohydrate is the trade at an estimated 48.8% of dry matter, and with moisture left off the pack those conversions rest on the usual 8% assumption.

£6.25 a kilo, in 1.5kg, 6kg and 12kg bags.

A 15kg adult in moderate condition, allowing about 840 kcal a day on the standard 110 × bodyweight^0.75 estimate, eats roughly 239 grams, which puts the daily bowl at about £1.50. The pack's table asks 247 to 255 grams for a 20kg dog and 187 to 196 grams at 14kg, so read the ribs rather than the scoop.