Lifestage Grain Free Dry Senior: Salmon & Trout review

Both recipes reach our Excellent band. Protein and processing reads Good on both bags, the fish helped by a named fish declared in four parts and the turkey answering with the leaner analysis of the two. The typical adult dry food sits a band further down, in our Good band. What clears the gap is the same in both cases: a large named animal share, with a plant side that supports it instead of replacing it.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon And Trout (50%), Freshly Prepared Trout And Salmon (25%), Salmon Meal (20%), Salmon Gravy (3%), Salmon Oil (2%), Sweet Potato (24%), Peas (9%), Potato, Beet Pulp (4%), Linseed (3%), Minerals, Vegetable Stock, Asparagus, Omega 3 Supplement, Glucosamine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Chondroitin Sulphate, Fructooligosaccharides (Fos), Mannanoligosaccharides (Mos)

Both recipes declare their animal at 50% and break it into parts. The fish bag lists freshly prepared trout and salmon at 25%, salmon meal at 20%, salmon gravy at 3% and salmon oil at 2%. The turkey bag lists freshly prepared turkey at 25%, turkey meal at 19% and turkey fat at 2%, with a gravy alongside them.

Dried meal is the entry that counts in both. Fresh meat is mostly water, and cooking takes that back out. On the fish recipe protein converts to 27.5% of dry matter, and on the turkey 29.7%. Estimated carbohydrate comes to 47.2% and 46.1%, either side of the 46.2% usual for adult dry food.

The two differ most in fat. The fish bag declares 12.0% and the turkey 9.0%. For an old dog on shorter walks the turkey is the gentler bowl, while the fish recipe holds condition better on a senior that is still busy. Turkey is naturally lighter in fat than chicken. That is why senior labels reach for it so often.

In both bags sweet potato heads the plant side, at 24% on the fish and 17% for the turkey. Peas, potato and beet pulp sit behind it, and linseed at 3% brings plant omega 3. Asparagus finishes the fish list and cranberry the turkey, small entries that give each bag its own character rather than changing what it does.

Glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and chondroitin appear on both labels, and for a senior food that combination is the right instinct. The first two are the joint supplements most often reached for, and chondroitin is a natural component of cartilage. None of them carries a figure here. Take them as support, with no dose to check. FOS and MOS follow for the gut, likewise unquantified.

The mineral panel is where the printing gets precise, with copper at 15 mg/kg, iron at 50 mg/kg, manganese at 20 mg/kg and zinc at 100 mg/kg on both bags. They come in plain sulphate and oxide forms, with selenium supplied as sodium selenite.

The oilier of the two, declaring 12.0% fat against 25.0% protein, with salmon meal at 20% and salmon oil at 2% behind the freshly prepared fish. Protein and processing reads Good here, level with the turkey bag, and asparagus is its finishing note. This is the version for an older dog who still wants the long walk.

Both recipes are £3.48 a kilo. The turkey comes in 2kg and 12kg bags, the salmon and trout in a 12kg bag.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 247 grams a day of the fish recipe and about 264 grams of the turkey. Both figures rest on 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That comes to £0.86 a day and £0.92 a day respectively. An older dog moving less may well need rather less than that, so let the waistline lead.