McAdams Raw Infused Small Breed: Free Range Turkey review

Our scoring finishes this in the Good band, in company with most of the adult dry shelf. The reading deserves a little unpacking. Judged on the analysis alone it looks stronger. Protein converts to 32.4% of dry matter, fat to 21.1% and carbohydrate to 36.2% against a 46.2% typical for adult dry food, which is a genuinely light starch load. The drag is in how the label is built. The meat figure covers meat, fat and gravy as a single declaration, tapioca is a filler by any honest reading, and the parade of named plants at the end amounts to seasoning. Transparency scores Outstanding for everything the label does declare, while protein and processing and nutritional balance each land on Good.

Ingredients, as declared: Free Range Turkey with Turkey Fat and Gravy (64.5%), Freeze-Dried Turkey Bites (8%), Sweet Potato (25%), Tapioca (5%), Lentils (2%), Minerals (2%), Vegetable Fibres (1%), Algae Oil, Prebiotics (FOS (0.15%), MOS (0.15%)), Yucca Extract, Dried Marigold, Hand Cut Irish Seaweed (0.03%), Dried Orange, New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel, Camomile, Carrots, Cranberries, Spinach, Tomatoes, Lavender, Dried Rosemary.

The raw part of the name is not decoration. Eight per cent of the bag is freeze dried turkey bites, added once the kibble has been baked so they never see the oven. Freeze drying pulls the water out while leaving the meat's structure intact, which keeps the smell and the flavour close to raw. In a small dog's portion those pieces are a meaningful share of what lands in the bowl, not the occasional lucky find.

Turkey with turkey fat and gravy heads the list at 64.5%. One animal, named, with nothing else joining it, which is the reason this recipe works for an owner narrowing down a suspected reaction. The honest caveat is that the percentage covers the meat, its rendered fat and the gravy together, so it is not a measure of lean muscle meat. Turkey on its own is a mild meat that goes easy on a delicate stomach and digests well.

Starch comes from sweet potato at 25%, tapioca at 5% and lentils at 2%. Sweet potato and lentils both carry something beyond their starch. Sweet potato adds fibre and minerals. The lentils bring plant protein and B vitamins. Tapioca sits close to pure starch, with nothing much beyond it. The total still leaves carbohydrate at 36.2% of dry matter, which is a good deal lighter than most kibbles manage.

The omega 3 here comes from algae oil, not fish oil. That is an uncommon choice, and a handy one if you are keeping your dog off fish altogether. Marine content has not vanished entirely: hand cut Irish seaweed is declared at 0.03% and New Zealand green lipped mussel appears further down, so a shellfish free household should read the list before ordering. Prebiotic FOS and MOS are declared at 0.15% each and vegetable fibres at 1%, all working on the gut rather than the dog.

Calcium works out at 1.19% of dry matter, right where a fully grown dog wants it. Everything past the fibres, marigold, dried orange, camomile, carrots, cranberries, spinach, tomatoes, lavender and rosemary, is present at trace level. They are pleasant to read and they will not change how a dog feels; the turkey is what this recipe is standing on.

The bags are 1.5kg and 5kg, at £19.00 a kilo.

The standard reference we use across dry foods is a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition. That dog needs roughly 207 grams a day at around 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), or £3.93 a day. For the size of dog this bag is actually made for, the label's own table asks between 78 and 103 grams a day for a 5kg dog.