Lukullus Single Meat Dry review

The recipe lands in our Excellent band, a clear step up from the broad middle of the dry adult shelf. Beef protein heads the list, and estimated carbohydrate of 41.1% of dry matter sits under the 46.2% typical for a dry food. Those two hold it up there. Three things hold it back: maize sitting level with the meat, pea protein adding to the protein figure, and a fat and a liver named by family instead of species. It sets out to be a plain everyday beef bowl, and it is one.

Ingredients, as declared: `New Recipe!` 1kg / 5 x 1kg / 12kg / 2 x 12kg, Beef protein (26%), maize (26%), peas (24%), poultry fat (8%), dried apple pulp (6.3%), pea protein (4%), hydrolysed poultry liver (2%), salmon oil (1%), eggshells (1.6%), potassium chloride (0.4%), pea meal, dried parsley (0.1%), mannan-oligosaccharides (0.0198%), fructo-oligosaccharides (0.015%), mojave yucca (0.015%).

Beef protein at 26% is the only named meat protein in the recipe, and beef is a highly digestible, highly palatable meat that most dogs take to without any fuss at all. It arrives dried. That declared share therefore stays close to the amount in the finished kibble, with no wet weight to shrink away in the oven.

The name deserves a careful read. Beef is the only meat protein, but poultry fat at 8%, hydrolysed poultry liver at 2% and salmon oil at 1% all bring other animals into the bag. For a dog that simply prefers beef, none of that matters in the slightest. For a dog on a genuine elimination trial, those are the three entries that break the single-animal reading, and it is far better to know that now than three weeks into a diet.

Maize at 26% and peas at 24% form the base, with pea protein at 4% and pea meal behind them. Pea protein is a concentrate, not a whole ingredient, and for digestibility no plant protein matches meat. So a slice of the 28.0% protein on the analysis comes from the plant side of the recipe.

Eggshells at 1.6% are an unusual and rather sensible entry, a straightforward natural source of calcium. Dried apple pulp at 6.3% carries the fibre, potassium chloride at 0.4% tops up minerals, and dried parsley at 0.1% is a token.

The bottom of the list is a small cluster of the useful and the modest: mannan-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides feeding the gut bacteria, and mojave yucca at 0.015% for odour. Estimated carbohydrate finishes at 41.1% of dry matter and energy at 362 kcal per 100g, which is a middling everyday density that suits a dog with a normal routine.

£2.83 a kilo, sold in 1kg, a five pack of 1kg, 12kg and a pair of 12kg bags.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 232 grams a day, coming to £0.66, on an energy need of around 840 kcal a day from the standard 110 × bodyweight^0.75 maintenance estimate. Let the dog in front of you set the portion.