Hill's Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Care Wet Dog Food Original Can review

Ingredients, as declared: Meat and animal derivatives, derivatives of vegetable origin, oils and fats, various sugars, minerals. Protein source: Pork liver. ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense prebiotic blend (0.33%): Betaine, oat bran, fructo-oligosaccharides.

The tin's list is short and almost wholly made of category headings. Meat and animal derivatives comes first, derivatives of vegetable origin second, then oils and fats, various sugars and minerals. Underneath, Hill's identifies the protein source as pork liver, and that is the only ingredient on the whole label tied to a species.

Various sugars is a broad heading covering any added sugar, and in a canned therapeutic recipe it generally earns its place through texture and appeal at the bowl. Keeping a dog interested in eating is part of the situation these diets exist for, so palatability is treated as a working requirement.

Betaine, oat bran and fructo-oligosaccharides make up the ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense blend, printed at 0.33%. Betaine reappears among the additives with a figure of 1.4g attached to it.

Moisture is declared at 73.2%. Once that is taken out, protein reads 15.7% of dry matter and fat reads 25.4%, with the carbohydrate estimate at 51.9% and crude fibre at 1.8%. Protein pulled back while fat carries the load is the shape a renal recipe is deliberately given, and it is meant to be read that way rather than measured against everyday food. Energy is 121 kcal per 100g, which lets a smaller serving deliver the calories.

Ash converts to 5.2% of dry matter and calcium to 0.75%. The declared trace elements are iron at 16.1mg, zinc at 41.4mg, copper at 2.7mg, manganese at 3.5mg and iodine at 0.5mg, each carrying its own figure on the label.

The can guide runs from 113 grams a day at 2kg through 415 grams at 10kg to 1040 grams at 50kg. Kidney work is followed on blood results rather than on how a dog looks, so the vet who ordered those tests is the one to say whether this tin belongs in the routine.

It comes in 180 g and 350 g cans. Fed to the guide, a 15kg dog would take about 692 grams a day, close to two of the larger cans.