Lovejoys

Lovejoys Original Dry Senior / Light: Lamb & Rice review

Name: Lovejoys Original Dry Senior / Light: Lamb & Rice
Brand: Lovejoys

53.8/100Good

DryAdultSenior

Flavour

A rice-led kibble for older dogs and for any dog a bit heavier than it ought to be, pitched below a standard adult kibble on energy. Each bag keeps to one animal from the meal down to the fat. Both land in our Good band, a gentle recipe doing a gentle job.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Older dogs winding down their exercise, with fewer calories per 100g than the 357 typical of adult dry food
Watching a dog's shape: fat at 8.5% in the lamb and 8.0% in the turkey
Dogs that need to stay on one animal
Homes keeping a dog away from fish
Stiffening joints, as an everyday top-up

Worth watching

Firmly grain-inclusive, with gluten in the barley of the lamb bag
Carbohydrate at 58.2% and 58.6% of dry matter, against a typical 46.2%
Gentle protein, better for a steady household dog than a hard worker

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

53.8/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balancePoor

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adults and seniors of every size. For a dog between 10kg and 20kg the label asks 175 to 260 grams a day; let the waistline settle where in that band your dog sits.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult, Senior

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Lamb

The score, in context

Lamb 53.8
Turkey 51.9

All two Good. Typical dry food: Good.

A food squarely with the crowd: the rice-first label and high starch hold it there, which suits the slowing dog on the bag well enough.

What's in it

Rice43.0%An easy starch for most dogs.
Lamb meat meal21.0%Dried and rendered, so it carries more protein by weight than fresh meat.
Whole barleyWhole, so its fibre and minerals stay. Carries gluten.
Whole linseed4.0%Plant omega 3; give the coat some weeks before judging it.
Lamb digest, lamb fatFlavour and fat, both naming lamb.
Sugar beet pellets, alfalfa pelletsThe fibre.
Seaweed meal0.5%Iodine and trace minerals.
Fructo-oligosaccharides
Joint pack (glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, MSM)0.08%A small daily top-up, not a clinical dose.
Extract of Yucca schidigera200 mg/kgThe nod to what happens at the other end.

Zinc at 100 mg, iron at 60 mg and manganese at 50 mg per kilo among a panel numbered in full, in everyday sulphate forms.

Named ingredients

Rice (43.0%), Lamb Meat Meal (21.0%), Whole Barley, Whole Linseed (4.0%), Lamb Digest, Sugar Beet Pellets, Lamb Fat, Alfalfa Pellets, Seaweed Meal (0.5%), Fructo-oligosaccharides (Prebiotic FOS), Joint Pack (Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulphate and MSM) (0.08%), Extract of Yucca Schidigera (200 mg/kg)

Against the range

Second grain: Whole barley; Whole oats in the turkey.
Meat meal: 21.0% lamb; 17.5% turkey.
Whole linseed: 4.0%; 2.5% in the turkey.
Protein, dry matter: 19.6%; 20.7% in the turkey.

The bag with more meal and the larger plant omega 3 share, and the slightly higher score of the two.

Both bags open with rice and bring the meat in as a dried meal, with the digest and the fat behind it naming the same species: lamb throughout one bag, turkey throughout the other. Neither carries fish meal or fish oil.

Whole linseed supplies the plant omega 3, seaweed meal brings iodine, and a combined joint pack of glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and MSM sits at 0.08% in both. What varies is the second grain (barley in the lamb, oats in the turkey), the meal share and the linseed share.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

320 kcal/100g

Protein

18%

Fat

8.5%

Fibre

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

19.6%

Fat

9.2%

Fibre

4.3%

Ash

8.7%

Carbs

58.2%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

29.5%

Carbs

61.5%

Veg

1.9%

Oils

1.8%

Other

5.3%

Pricing & size