Flourish Senior / Light: Turkey with Rice review

The middle of the adult dry category sits in our Good band, and this bag sits there with it. By our reading it is an average bag, and by its maker's a very deliberate one. Around two thirds of the recipe is rice and oats, the meat share is a quarter, and protein comes in gentle at 21.7% of dry matter. Those are the figures holding the reading where it is.

They are also, in fairness, the figures a senior and light recipe is aiming at. What the label does well is dose its extras honestly. The joint trio is printed in milligrams, FOS at 970 mg/kg is a genuine prebiotic level, and every added mineral has a number against it. For an older dog with a settled stomach and a waistline to keep an eye on, that adds up to a sensible bowl.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 26% (Including Dried Turkey 17%, Freshly Prepared Turkey 5%, Turkey Fat 2% & Turkey Gravy 2%), Brown Rice (23%), White Rice (23%), Oats (18%), Beet Pulp, Linseed, Alfalfa, Minerals, Seaweed, Omega 3 Supplement, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 970 mg/kg), Chicory Extract (0.05%), Dandelion, Yucca Extract (190 mg/kg), Glucosamine (178 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (178 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg)

Turkey at 26% is split into 17% dried turkey, 5% freshly prepared turkey, 2% turkey fat and 2% turkey gravy. Leading with the dried share is a sensible move in a recipe holding this much grain, since dried meat is already concentrated and keeps its bulk in the oven where fresh meat shrinks away. Protein finishes at 21.7% of dry matter, which is gentle by design rather than by accident.

Turkey is the classic choice for this kind of food. It is leaner than chicken, easy to digest and reliably tempting, which counts for a lot when an older dog starts picking at dinner.

Rice carries the plant side, 23% brown and 23% white, with oats at 18% behind it and beet pulp and alfalfa for fibre. Rice is about the easiest grain a dog can be given, and oats add fibre along with manganese and B vitamins. Carbohydrate is estimated at 58.8% of dry matter, which is where a recipe ends up when it holds both meat and fat down.

The joint pack carries real doses, with glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane at 178 mg/kg each and chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg. L-Carnitine appears at 24 mg per kilo, a light touch alongside the low fat.

The gut work is properly dosed. FOS at 970 mg/kg is a real prebiotic level, and chicory extract at 0.05% supplies inulin as a second prebiotic. Yucca extract at 190 mg/kg is in there to keep the garden smelling better. Seaweed carries iodine and trace minerals, dandelion and alfalfa are traditional bitter greens, and the plant form of omega 3 comes from linseed.

One entry stays vague. The omega 3 supplement has no source against it, and fish oil is the usual one, so nobody can call this food fish free with confidence. Everything else on the list is named, which makes the one loose thread easy to spot and easy to put to the maker.

£4.10 a kilo, sold in a 10kg bag.

On the standard maintenance estimate of about 840 kcal a day, which is 110 × bodyweight^0.75, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats roughly 246 grams a day, working out at £1.01 a day. An older dog doing less will often settle a little below that.