Husse Prima Plus review

Prima Plus comes out in our Average band, a step below the Good band that the middle of the adult dry category occupies. The reason is visible on the back of the bag. Protein converts to 24.5% of dry matter, fat to 10.9%, and estimated carbohydrate to 55.4%, well above the 46.2% typical of adult dry food, and nutritional balance reads Average as a result. Transparency reads Good and protein and processing Average, so the recipe itself is ordinary rather than badly made. It was made for the steady adult dog with a normal appetite and no history of cereal trouble, and that dog will do well on it.

Ingredients, as declared: chicken, wheat, wheat meal, maize, rice flour, rice, animal fat, vegetable fibres, linseed, hydrolysed animal protein, salmon, salmon oil, yeast, salt, fructo-oligosaccharides (0.3%), dried whole eggs, potassium chloride, lecithin (0.1%), sea algae, glucosamine (500 mg/kg), rosemary.

Chicken leads, and the cereals then arrive in a block: wheat, wheat meal, maize, rice flour and rice, five entries before the fat. That weighting explains the analysis, which reads 22.5% protein and 10.0% fat as fed, with carbohydrate estimated at 51.0%, or 55.4% of dry matter once the declared 8.0% moisture is removed.

Wheat in second place with wheat meal right behind it is the detail to weigh up. Wheat binds a kibble beautifully and suits the great majority of dogs perfectly well. It is also the grain named most often behind an intolerance, and that usually turns up as itchy skin or a gut that will not settle. If that is your dog's history, the grain free Opus recipes are the natural place to move within the brand.

The protein and fat figures are the modest part of the story. At 22.5% protein and 10.0% fat this is a lean, low intensity kibble, which suits a dog with an ordinary routine and asks the portion to be watched more carefully for a working one. Energy is 385 kcal per 100g against the 357 kcal typical of adult dry food, so the food is not short of calories even with the fat kept low.

The additions are dosed properly rather than sprinkled for the front of the bag. Glucosamine is printed at 500 mg/kg, a real amount, L-carnitine appears at 40 mg/kg, and vitamin C at 200 mg/kg joins vitamin E at 500 mg/kg on antioxidant duty. Marine omega 3s come from salmon and salmon oil, linseed brings the plant form, and dried whole eggs supply a little protein about as complete as it comes.

Fructo-oligosaccharides at 0.3% and lecithin at 0.1% both carry printed percentages, which is more openness than the meat itself gets, since no figure is given for the chicken. Sea algae supplies iodine, vegetable fibres hold crude fibre at 2.5%, and rosemary closes the list as a natural preservative. Calcium converts to 1.2% of dry matter, a settled adult level.

Like every other Husse dry recipe, this one names no species for the animal fat, and none for the hydrolysed animal protein. They are useful ingredients doing real work, and a hydrolysed protein in particular is broken down enough for most sensitive dogs to take it in their stride. What they cannot do is settle whether a particular meat is in the bag.

£3.53 a kilo, sold in 2kg, 7kg and 12kg bags, plus a 2 x 12kg pack.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would need about 218 grams a day at roughly 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), coming to £0.77 a day. The label asks 121 to 420 grams for dogs between 11kg and 30kg, which is a broad range, so start near the middle and let the waistline adjust it from there.