Husse Ocean Care review

Our reading is an Average one, a rung under where the typical adult dry food finishes, so this sits just below the middle of the shelf. Protein converts to 26.1% of dry matter and estimated carbohydrate to 48.3%, both ordinary figures for a kibble, and the label names its ingredients without attaching percentages to them, which counts against it on transparency. Pulling the other way are the energy density and a mineral panel dosed right through. For a big adult dog who eats well and gets on with fish, that reading is a fair one.

Ingredients, as declared: salmon, rice, rice flour, animal fat, linseed, vegetable fibres, hydrolysed animal protein, yeast, salmon oil, salt, fructo-oligosaccharides (0.3%), potassium chloride, lecithin (0.1%), sea algae, rosemary.

Salmon heads the list, written plainly rather than as dried salmon, and on a label that usually signals the fresh fish. Fresh means water, and water goes in the oven, so the top slot is worth a little less than it first looks. The analysis is the better guide: protein settles at 26.1% of dry matter and fat at 15.2%, a solid working pair for an adult food.

The starch comes from rice and rice flour, with wheat, maize and soya all absent from the list. Estimated carbohydrate finishes at 48.3% of dry matter, a shade over the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. The declared energy of 396 kcal per 100 grams comes in above the 357 typical, which means bowls here are smaller than they would be on a leaner recipe.

The sea theme is more than a name on the front. Skin and coat can use the long chain omega 3s straight off, and salmon oil delivers them. Linseed adds the plant form for the dog to convert, and sea algae supplies iodine and trace minerals. Zinc is declared twice, at 108 mg and 12 mg per kilo from two different sources. Skin leans on zinc harder than on any other mineral, so a double entry on a coat food is a good sign.

Salt is on the list, and it is a fair thing to notice. It goes in as a flavour enhancer, most dogs handle it without any difficulty, and naming it at all is more openness than many labels manage. If your dog has a heart or blood pressure history, it belongs on the list of things to mention at the next appointment. The potassium chloride nearby is a straightforward potassium supplement.

The smaller entries do sensible jobs. The gut's useful bacteria get fructo-oligosaccharides at 0.3%, a prebiotic fibre. Lecithin at 0.1% helps fats and water mix and lends a hand to the coat, and yeast contributes B vitamins. Rosemary at the end is a natural antioxidant, there to stop the fats turning. The clinoptilolite in the additives is a mineral clay that keeps the kibble flowing.

£4.63 a kilo. The bag is 12.5kg, with a twin pack of two also on offer.

Because the kibble is energy dense, portions run smaller. A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition takes about 212 grams a day on the standard maintenance estimate of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), which is £0.98 a day. The label asks 100 to 390 grams across the 10kg to 30kg range, a wide bracket, so a body condition check every few weeks is the better guide.