Gentle Fish review

The band word here is Good, which is also the band the typical cold-pressed food holds, and this one gets there on steady honesty with no single flourish. The fish is named as white fish and declared at 34.5%, the rice and potato carry percentages too, and the vitamin and mineral panel is printed dose by dose. What stops it climbing towards the top of the band is the shape of the analysis, with protein converting to 26.7% of dry matter and carbohydrate to 49.4% against a 43.2% middle for the category. The cold-pressed field is a strong one, so holding this band with a straightforward fish and rice recipe is a proper result.

Ingredients, as declared: Dried Ground White Fish (34.5%), Dried Ground Brown Rice (thermally pretreated)(27%), Potato flakes(23%), Dried Ground Parsnips, Fish Oil, Cold pressed oils (rapeseed and linseed), Dried Ground Sea Algae, Dried Ground Apples, Dried Ground Pears, Dried Ground Courgette, Dried Ground Herbal blend, Dried Ground Blueberries, Ground Egg Yolk, Green mineral clay

White fish leads at 34.5%, dried and ground before it reaches the press. That matters when you read the number, because the water has already gone: a dried meat percentage represents rather more actual fish than the same figure would if it were fresh. Fish is also among the easier proteins for a sensitive dog to get along with, which is usually why an owner reaches for a recipe like this one.

Brown rice at 27% is described as thermally pre-treated, and that is not marketing. Cold pressing does not cook the starch the way extrusion does, so the grain has to be heat-treated first if a dog is going to digest it properly. Potato flakes at 23% sit behind it, and between them the two carry the bulk of the carbohydrate, which converts to 49.4% of dry matter.

The fat comes from a sensible pairing. The long chain omega 3 fats in fish oil are the ones that show in a dog's skin, coat and joint comfort. Cold pressed rapeseed and linseed oils bring a plant form of omega 3 alongside a softer fatty acid profile. Total fat converts to 10.5% of dry matter, so this is a moderate food and not a rich one, easy to feed to a dog that puts weight on without trying.

The plant tail is mostly recognisable food. Parsnip, apple, pear, courgette and blueberry all appear as named entries, sea algae covers iodine, and green mineral clay closes the list as a binder that carries trace minerals of its own. The one vague entry is the herbal blend, which is not broken down, so what is in it stays between Gentle and its supplier.

An exclusion diet needs to catch the ground egg yolk sitting near the end of the list. It is what stops the recipe being single source. Everything else is declared with a dose or a name, and calcium converts to 1.3% of dry matter. Moisture is printed at 8% too, so nothing here has to be assumed. Not many labels go that far.

£6.00 a kilo. Bags are 5kg and 14kg, the 14kg can be bought two at a time, and there is also a bundle that pairs it with the Gentle Goat bag.

Taking the standard maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75), a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 840 kcal a day, which this food delivers in roughly 256 grams, or £1.54 a day. The maker's own adult chart puts a 20kg dog on 240 grams a day and a 30kg dog on 360 grams.