Forthglade Small Portion Grain Free: Lamb Shepherd's Pie review

All three reach our Excellent band and finish within a whisker of each other, so size of dog and taste decide it. That matters more than it sounds. Wet food is a strong category with us and the ordinary adult wet tray is already an Excellent one, so a small-portion recipe has to be built properly to hold that level. Here it is built properly, with 75% of each tray one named animal and nothing on the label written as a category term. Protein and processing and transparency both read Outstanding on all three.

Ingredients, as declared: Lamb (75%), Broccoli (2%), Peas (2%), Dried Potato (1.5%, equivalent to 6%), Minerals, Dried Carrots (0.5%, equivalent to 4%), Linseed Oil (0.5%), Chicory Root Extract (0.45%), Dried Herbs (Parsley, Rosemary, Nettle, Camomile) (0.12%), Dried Seaweed*, Yucca Extract (0.005%)*. *Natural ingredient.

One animal at 75% opens each list, named and given a percentage, with nothing else of animal origin appearing anywhere below it. Protein converts to between 36.7% and 37.5% of dry matter across the three, which is a meat-led result for a tray this size, and fat ranges from 25.0% to 33.3% depending on the recipe.

The vegetables are mostly used dried, and Forthglade prints both figures, so dried potato at 3% is also shown as equivalent to 12% before drying and dried carrots at 1% as equivalent to 8%. That is a small courtesy few labels bother with, and it stops the vegetable share looking smaller than it is. Carbohydrate converts to between 8.2% and 22.7% of dry matter across the three on our estimate, a wide spread inside one range. Remember that this figure is reached by subtraction rather than by measurement, so it carries whatever the printed analysis leaves over.

Linseed oil at 0.5% is the omega-3 source here. The gut entry is chicory root extract at 0.45%, and dried seaweed brings iodine and trace minerals. Yucca extract at 0.005% and a named blend of parsley, rosemary, nettle and camomile at 0.12% finish the list, all of it seasoning.

The added panel is identical on the three labels and every entry is dosed. Vitamin A at 2,500IU, vitamin D3 at 200IU and vitamin E at 30mg per kilo open it, with zinc at 50mg, iron at 10mg, copper at 5mg and iodine at 0.5mg. The trace elements are supplied as glycine chelates, an easier form for the body to take up than plain mineral salts.

Lamb at 75%, with 2% each of broccoli and peas and dried potato at 1.5%. Its analysis stands apart from the other two. Carbohydrate converts to just 8.2% of dry matter, the lowest here by some way, while ash converts to 23.2%. That is high for a wet recipe and suggests more bone in the mix. Energy is estimated at 113 kcal per 100g.

£9.00 a kilo, with trays sold in packs of 7, 14 and 21.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat between 592 and 745 grams a day depending on the recipe, or between £5.32 and £6.70. Our basis is the usual maintenance sum, 110 × bodyweight^0.75, which puts a dog of that weight near 840 kcal a day.

These trays are portioned for smaller dogs, so that 15kg figure is really a comparison point rather than a shopping list. Forthglade's own guide starts at 37.5 grams a day for the smallest dogs and reaches 937.5 grams for a dog of 10 to 25kg.