Hill's Prescription Diet k/d Stew for Dogs review

Ingredients, as declared: Meat and animal derivatives (chicken 5%), cereals, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, various sugars, vegetables (1.1%), minerals, eggs and egg derivatives, seeds, yeasts. Protein sources: Chicken, pork liver, dried eggs. ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense prebiotic blend (0.29%): Betaine, oat bran, fructo-oligosaccharides.

Meat and animal derivatives leads with chicken at 5%, followed by cereals, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, various sugars and vegetables at 1.1%. Eggs and egg derivatives, seeds and yeasts finish the list. Below it Hill's names the protein as chicken, pork liver and dried eggs, which tells you more than the headings above ever would.

A technological additive is declared as well, potassium alginate at 5.0g. Alginate is a gelling agent drawn from brown seaweed, and its job here is holding the gravy and the chunks in shape rather than feeding the dog anything.

The trace element panel prints manganese twice, 1.5mg under one identifier and 1.2mg under another, alongside iron at 11.0mg, zinc at 38.5mg, copper at 1.6mg, iodine at 0.6mg and selenium at 0.04mg. Betaine sits there at 1.3g. The ActivBiome+ Kidney Defense blend is declared at 0.29%, and betaine, oat bran and fructo-oligosaccharides are what goes into it.

Moisture is declared at 77.7%, which is a lot of water to take out before the analysis says anything useful. Once it is out, protein works out at 16.1% of dry matter, fat at 24.7% and the carbohydrate estimate at 52.1%, with crude fibre at 3.0%, ash at 4.1% and calcium at 0.76%. Energy is 100 kcal per 100g.

Low protein and generous fat are not an oversight on a label like this one. They follow from what the maker set out to build. What those proportions mean for your own dog belongs to the vet holding the test results, not to anything you can weigh up from the tin.

Portions on the label start at 94 grams a day for a 1kg dog, list 424 grams at 10kg and reach 1058 grams at 50kg. Gravy recipes are often introduced when a dog has gone quiet about mealtimes, and the practice managing the condition is the right place to settle whether this is the one to try.

It is sold in 354 g cans. At the label's own rate a 15kg dog would work through about 844 grams a day.