K9 Optimum Adult Wet review

This tin reads Excellent on our scale, and the middle of the adult wet category sits in that same band, so it holds its own among wet foods rather than standing apart from them. Chicken at 65% with a printed percentage does most of the work. The rest of the label follows suit, and almost every line carries a number, down to two thousandths of a per cent for the chondroitin. Protein converts to 46.0% of dry matter and carbohydrate to 15.6%, near enough level with the 15.8% typical of adult wet food. The declared 111 kcal per 100g runs above the 97 typical for the category, so daily amounts come out smaller than on a lighter tin.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (65%), Dried Brown Rice (3.75%), Minerals, Dried Carrot (0.6%), Dried Potato (0.6%), Flaxseed Oil (0.5%), Salmon Oil (0.5%), Dried Seaweed (0.08%), Chicory Root Powder (0.03%), Glucosamine HCl (0.005%), Chondroitin (0.002%). Chicken (65%), Dried Brown Rice (4%), Minerals, Dried Carrot (1%), Dried Potato (1%), Flaxseed Oil (1%), Salmon Oil (1%), Dried Seaweed, Chicory Root Powder, Glucosamine Hcl, Chondroitin

Chicken at 65% is the entire animal content of the tin, salmon oil aside, and it is named and quantified where a lot of wet labels reach for a category term instead. For a wet food that is a high share, and the analysis carries it through to protein at 46.0% of dry matter.

The only cereal in the tin is dried brown rice, at 3.75%. Keeping its bran gives brown rice a little more fibre and mineral than the white kind. At this level it is a gentle carrier and not bulk. Across the whole tin, carbohydrate converts to 15.6% of dry matter.

Minerals come third in the list, and the analysis reflects it as ash at 14.4% of dry matter and calcium at 3.2%. That is a generous mineral level for adult maintenance. A healthy dog manages it comfortably, though it is a reasonable thing to mention if your vet has any reason to watch your dog's urinary health.

Every small entry arrives with a figure, which is rare enough to be worth saying out loud. Dried potato and dried carrot are at 0.6% each, the flaxseed oil and salmon oil at 0.5% each. Dried seaweed is at 0.08% and chicory root powder at 0.03%. The two oils are the omega-3 sources, the seaweed brings natural iodine, and the chicory supplies inulin for the gut.

Glucosamine at 0.005% and chondroitin at 0.002% close the list. Putting a figure on them is more than most labels manage. What you get is a background level of joint support in the daily bowl, well short of a treatment. Anything your vet has prescribed should continue alongside it.

The added panel is dosed throughout. In every kilo: vitamin A at 1500IU, vitamin D3 at 250IU, vitamin E at 40mg, L-carnitine at 25mg, zinc at 20mg, iron at 15mg, manganese at 5mg, copper at 1.2mg and iodine at 0.5mg. L-carnitine is the one worth a second look, since it helps shift fat towards being burned instead of stored.

£3.80 a kilo, sold in a 395g tin and in cases of 12.

As a guide, feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition comes to about £2.88 a day, or roughly 757 grams, assuming about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own table asks for rather more, putting a dog of 15 to 20kg on 889 to 1053 grams a day.