K9 Optimum Senior Wet review

Our Excellent band is where this tin finishes, level with where the typical adult wet food lands, which for a senior recipe is a good showing. Chicken at 65% is the main reason, and the rest of the label is just as open. Dried brown rice is at 3.75%, carrot and potato at 0.6% each, the two oils at 0.5% each, and the joint pair is printed down to thousandths of a per cent. Protein converts to 46.0% of dry matter, enough to hold muscle on an older dog, and carbohydrate to 15.6%, sitting just under the 15.8% typical of adult wet food.

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

The senior tin and the brand's adult tin share a recipe, so a dog moving into its later years keeps exactly the same dinner. That is a kindness to a fussy older stomach. The joint pair and the L-carnitine an ageing dog gains from have been in the bowl all along, not something added at the change of label.

Apart from the salmon oil, chicken at 65% is the tin's only animal ingredient, and it lifts protein to 46.0% of dry matter. That matters more in an older dog than it used to: muscle is easier to lose and harder to rebuild in later life, and a decent protein level is how you hang on to it.

Dried brown rice at 3.75% is the recipe's single cereal, and a mild one. It keeps its bran, which brings a little fibre along with it, and at under four per cent of the tin it is carrying the recipe rather than padding it out.

Minerals sit third in the list and the analysis follows, with ash at 14.4% of dry matter and calcium at 3.2%. That is a fair amount of mineral for a dog past middle age. There is nothing to be anxious about in a healthy senior. Kidney and urinary trouble does become more common with the years, so it is sensible to mention if your vet is keeping an eye on either.

Everything below that is small, and all of it comes with a figure. Carrot and potato are dried, at 0.6% each. Both oils, flaxseed and salmon, sit at 0.5% and carry the omega-3 fats. Dried seaweed at 0.08% is there as a natural iodine source, and chicory root powder at 0.03% carries the inulin that feeds the bacteria an older gut leans on.

Glucosamine at 0.005% and chondroitin at 0.002% both come with a printed figure, which lets you judge them honestly. They amount to steady background joint support rather than a dose, so whatever your vet has your dog on should stay exactly where it is.

The added panel is quantified from end to end. Vitamin A comes in at 1500IU, vitamin D3 at 250IU, vitamin E at 40mg and L-carnitine at 25mg. The minerals follow: zinc at 20mg, iron at 15mg, manganese at 5mg, copper at 1.2mg and iodine at 0.5mg per kilo. L-carnitine earns its place in an older dog's recipe by helping the body turn fat into energy while lean tissue is held on to.

£3.80 a kilo, in a 395g tin, also sold as a case of 12.

As a guide, a 15kg dog in moderate condition works out at roughly £2.88 a day, about 757 grams, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's guide is more generous than that, putting a dog of 15 to 20kg on 889 to 1053 grams a day.