Lovejoys Pure & Simple Wet Adult: Turkey review

All four recipes land in our Excellent band, and the middle of the adult wet market lands there as well, so this shelf sits comfortably at the better end of ordinary. Turkey and Chicken read strongest of the four, though protein and processing reads Excellent and transparency Outstanding on all of them. These labels declare a great deal, and that is what lifts the whole shelf. One animal at 65%, plant entries at 1% each with their reconstituted fresh weights spelled out, and a vitamin and trace element panel with a figure on every line. Estimated carbohydrate sets the ceiling, running from 19.7% to 20.4% of dry matter where adult wet food usually reads 15.8%. The protein reading sits only in the low to mid thirties.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey (65%), Dried Sweet Potato (1% equivalent to 4% Sweet Potato), Dried Carrot (1%), Dried Peas (1%), Dried Broccoli (1%), Minerals, Dried Mixed Herbs (Parsley, Mint, Oregano, Marjoram, Rosemary) (0.5%), Sunflower Oil (0.1%), Dried Seaweed (0.05%), Yeasts (as a source of Beta-glucans and Prebiotic Mannanoligosaccharide) (0.05%), Glucosamine (0.004%), Chondroitin (0.002%), Yucca Extract (0.002%), Cranberry Extract (0.002%), Yeast Extract (0.001%)

The construction is the same on three of the four tins and it is refreshingly plain: one named animal at 65%, then dried sweet potato, carrot, pea and broccoli at 1% each. Each label also says where the dried sweet potato lands once rehydrated, at 4% fresh weight. That saves an owner guessing what a dried percentage really means.

Salmon and White Fish is the fourth, and it goes a different route. Salmon takes 40% and white fish 26%, with only sweet potato behind them. White fish could be any of several species. That leaves this the one tin here with an animal entry unnamed, and it is the shortest label of the four.

Sunflower oil at 0.1% is the added fat, one of the gentler oils used in dog food and a natural source of vitamin E. Dried seaweed at 0.05% supplies iodine and trace minerals. The yeast at 0.05% is there for its beta glucans and its prebiotic mannanoligosaccharide. That long word names a fibre, and it feeds the bacteria a gut wants more of.

Glucosamine at 0.004% and chondroitin at 0.002% close the working list, joined by yucca, cranberry and yeast extracts in the same small territory. Call these everyday extras, not a joint programme. Keep a prescribed supplement going if your dog is on one, with this as the dinner underneath.

All four labels print the additive panel in full. Vitamins A, D3 and E carry figures and so does every trace element. Selenium is there in the small amount you would expect from a complete food. With this much meat in the tin, a good deal of the micronutrition comes from the meat itself. A short panel here reads as confidence, not economy.

Turkey at 65% on the same base as the Chicken tin, and the strongest reading of the four. Its analysis matches the Chicken tin line for line apart from energy, which is declared at 136 kcal per 100g rather than 129.

£5.67 a kilo across all four recipes, in 395g tins sold in packs of 10.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 840 kcal a day, taken from the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75. That is roughly 618 to 651 grams, or between £3.50 and £3.69 a day depending on the recipe.