Millies Wolfheart Wet Complete: Salmon & Veg review

Five of the nine recipes reach our Outstanding band, led by Gamekeeper, where protein and processing, nutritional balance and transparency all read Outstanding. The Goat and Lamb and the Salmon and Veg read Excellent, and the Lamb and Veg and Turkey and Veg finish in our Good band. That spread is narrower than it sounds. Every tin is built the same way, from the named meat at the top down to the sage and seaweed at the bottom. The seven at the head sit no more than a band apart, and the two lower ones come in on protein and processing reading Poor, not on anything different in the recipe. Adult wet food typically reaches our Excellent band, so most of this range stands at or above the middle of the shelf. The pair that come in under it are still fully named, honest tins.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon (70%), Green Beans, Sweet Potato, Parsnip, Dried Carrot, Apple, Pear, Parsley, Sage, Seaweed, Glucosamine (38.9mg/kg), Chondroitin (22.2mg/kg), Cranberry Extract (22.2mg/kg), Yucca Extract (22.2mg/kg). Vitamins: Vitamin A 2,250 IU, Vitamin D3 328 IU, Vitamin E 26 mg Trace Elements: Zinc (as Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate) 24mg, Iron (as Iron (II) Sulphate Monohydrate) 12.5mg, Copper (as Copper (II) Sulphate Pentahydrate) 2.5mg, Manganese (as Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate) 2mg, Iodine (as Calcium Iodate Anhydrous) 0.45mg, Selenium (as Sodium Selenite) 0.04mg

The meat share is the strong suit and it is itemised throughout. Countryside runs lamb at 35%, duck at 27.5% and dried rabbit at 7.5%. Gamekeeper splits salmon and trout at 22% each with venison at 15% and dried rabbit at 11%. Tracker leads on white fish at 33% with beef at 27.5%, trout at 5.5% and tripe at 4%. Nothing anywhere in the range hides behind a category term.

The plant side barely changes from tin to tin: green beans, sweet potato, parsnip, dried carrot, often pumpkin, then apple and pear. Not one of the nine labels carries grain. Carbohydrate converts to between 1.6% and 22.2% of dry matter, depending on how much of the tin the vegetables take, against 15.8% for the typical adult wet food.

Every label finishes with the same tail: parsley, sage, seaweed, glucosamine, chondroitin, cranberry extract and yucca extract. Five of the nine put figures against them. The Goat and Lamb, Lamb and Veg, Salmon and Veg and Turkey and Veg print glucosamine at 38.9 mg and chondroitin at 22.2 mg per kilo. The Highland gives the same information as percentages. If your vet has dosed a diagnosed joint problem, keep to that dose and let a tin like this be the dinner underneath it.

Fat is generous across the range, converting to between 28.0% and 48.0% of dry matter, and protein to between 33.3% and 44.0%. For wet food that is a rich analysis. An active or naturally lean dog suits it. A dog that is neither wants its servings measured.

The vitamin and trace panel is identical on every recipe and it is fully dosed. Vitamin A comes at 2,250 IU, vitamin D3 at 328 IU and vitamin E at 26 mg, with zinc, iron, copper, manganese, iodine and selenium each printed per kilo. Selenium here is the sodium selenite form. Of the two forms allowed in Europe it is the commoner, and the one most makers use.

Salmon at 70% and no other animal at all, the range's straightest answer for a dog kept to fish. It is the densest tin of the nine at 158 kcal per 100g, so servings are the smallest here. Its carbohydrate converts to just 8.4% of dry matter, the lowest starch reading in the range apart from the Turkey and Veg.

Five of the nine recipes carry a figure of £10.00 a kilo and the other four do not publish one. The tins are 395g throughout.

For a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, those five work out at between £5.33 and £6.96 a day, or roughly 533 to 696 grams. That assumes a maintenance need of about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard estimate). Across the whole range the daily amount runs from 533 to 699 grams, since the richer tins go further.