Growling Tums

Growling Tums Gourmet Adult: Venison review

Name: Growling Tums Gourmet Adult: Venison
Brand: Growling Tums

64.1/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

Eight of nine in our Good band and the chicken a step up in Excellent, all built to one grain-free blueprint. The thing that sets the range apart is how plainly it shows the meat: each label splits its animal share into fresh and dried, so you can see what survives the oven. Pick the animal and nothing else about the recipe moves.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Rotation feeding. Only the animal really changes from one bag to the next
Dogs kept off cereal, as the starch comes from sweet potato, peas and potato
A less common protein: rabbit, venison, pork and haddock sit beside the everyday birds
Unsettled digestions, with FOS and MOS dosed in milligrams on every label
Owners who want the meat share broken into fresh and dried parts

Worth watching

An omega 3 supplement with no species named on all but the haddock, which matters on a strict exclusion plan
Four recipes carry more than one species. Read the list if you feed one protein only
Carbohydrate from 41.4% to 51.5% of dry matter, so the flavours are not interchangeable for a dog kept low on starch
Only the lamb prints a calcium figure

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

64.1/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. If you are feeding one protein for a reason, check the species on the list first, as the rabbit, venison and fish recipes each bring in a second animal.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Venison

The score, in context

Chicken 70.4
Angus Beef 69.0
Turkey 68.4
Pork 66.7
Lamb 65.6
Rabbit 65.2
Venison 64.1
Salmon 63.8
Haddock 63.7

Nine recipes across Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The nine sit close enough that the real choice is which animal suits your dog, with the chicken just ahead and the two fish recipes trailing slightly.

What's in it

Venison and salmon: freshly prepared venison, dried salmon, salmon oil, salmon stock50% (26%, 19%, 2.5%, 2.5%)Once the venison gives its water up, salmon carries at least as much of the bowl as the deer.
Sweet potato27%The highest sweet potato share in the range.
Potato
Peas6%
Omega supplementNo species given.
Linseed, beet pulp
Minerals
Mulberry0.2%
FOS, MOS96 mg/kg, 24 mg/kg

Vitamins A, D3 and E, with zinc, iron, manganese and copper as sulphates and iodine as calcium iodate.

Read this as a two-animal recipe. The salmon means it is not a novel protein on its own.

Named ingredients

Venison & Salmon 50% (including Freshly Prepared Venison 26%, Dried Salmon 19% Salmon Oil 2.5% & Salmon Stock 2.5%), Sweet Potato (27%), Potato, Peas (6%), Omega Supplement, Linseed, Beet Pulp, Minerals, Mulberry (0.2%), Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 24 mg/kg)

Against the range

Other animals on the label: Salmon, as dried fish, oil and stock; The rabbit recipe pairs with turkey; pork, lamb, chicken and turkey stay single.
Protein, dry matter: 27.2%; Joint lowest with the haddock.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 46.2%; 41.4% to 51.5% across the nine.

Good for a dog that likes both game and fish, less so for an exclusion plan.

Every recipe declares its animal content at 50% or more and splits it into fresh and dried, with the dried part running from 12% to 21%. Sweet potato heads the plant side at 21.5% to 27%, with peas and potato behind it, and no wheat, rice, maize or barley anywhere. Linseed, beet pulp and a printed dose of FOS and MOS are on every label.

What varies is the animal, the garnish and the oil. Eight recipes carry an omega 3 supplement with no species given; the haddock uses olive and sunflower oil instead. Protein runs from 27.2% to 31.5% of dry matter and carbohydrate from 41.4% to 51.5%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

364 kcal/100g

Protein

25%

Fat

13%

Fibre

Ash

8.5%

Dry weight

Protein

27.2%

Fat

14.1%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

9.2%

Carbs

46.2%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

31%

Added water

19%

Carbs

43.7%

Other

6.3%

Pricing & size