My Pet Says Naturals Small Breed Adult: Turkey & Rice review

Our scoring puts this in the Good band, and the dry adult median lands there too. The arithmetic is easy to follow. A 30% turkey share is moderate, and with rice and oats behind it carbohydrate converts to 56.0% of dry matter, where the category typically runs at 46.2%. Nothing on the label counts against it. The meat is named and split, the botanical extras earn their place, and every mineral is dosed in print. It reads as a sensible everyday food for a small dog, and portioned properly it does that job without fuss.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 30% (Including Dried Turkey 22%, Freshly Prepared Turkey 4%, Turkey Fat 2% & Turkey Gravy 2%), White Rice (22%), Brown Rice (22%), Oats (19%), Linseed, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa, Minerals, Vitamins, Seaweed, Omega 3 Supplement, FOS (960 mg/kg), Chicory Extract (0.05%), Yucca Extract (190 mg/kg), Dandelion. VITAMINS: Vitamin A 14423 IU, Vitamin D3 2000 IU, Vitamin E 149mg. TRACE ELEMENTS: Zinc (Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate) 48mg, Iron (Iron (II) Sulphate Monohydrate) 48mg, Manganese (Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate) 34mg, Copper (Copper (II) Sulphate Pentahydrate) 12mg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate Anhydrous) 0.96mg, Selenium (Sodium Selenite) 0.19mg.

Turkey is declared at 30% and the label prints the split: 22% dried, 4% freshly prepared, plus turkey fat and turkey gravy at 2% each. Water is gone from dried meat before it ever reaches the mixer. Leading with the dried figure therefore puts more protein in the bowl than leading with fresh would, and the named turkey fat keeps the fat on the same bird. Protein converts to 25.0% of dry matter and fat to 8.7%.

Beet pulp brings the fibre, and the cereal load is white rice and brown rice at 22% apiece with oats at 19% behind them. These are digestible cereals, and oats in particular carry fibre and a spread of minerals in with them. Together they are also why carbohydrate is estimated at 56.0% of dry matter against 46.2% for adult dry food generally.

The thought has gone into the tail of the list. The prebiotics are FOS at 960 mg/kg and chicory extract, both aimed at the good bacteria in the lower gut. Yucca extract at 190 mg/kg is in there with household smells in mind, and alfalfa, dandelion and seaweed bring trace minerals with them. Linseed is the plant omega 3 source, sitting alongside an omega 3 supplement that the label never attaches to a named ingredient.

The mineral panel is printed in full: zinc at 48 mg, iron at 48 mg, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 12 mg, iodine at 0.96 mg and selenium at 0.19 mg per kilo. All of them are in sulphate form, and vitamin E is declared at 149mg. Calcium comes out at 1.41% of dry matter, comfortably inside adult range for a small dog.

For a small breed food the practical detail is the portion, and the label's table is properly granular at the bottom end. It runs from 30 grams a day for a 1kg to 2kg dog up to 150 grams for anything over 10kg. At 346 kcal per 100g the food is neither rich nor lean, so a toy dog's daily ration is still big enough to split into two meals without either one looking mean.

£6.10 a kilo, sold in a 10kg bag.

For scale, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition on about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate) would eat 243 grams a day, which comes to £1.48. Your dog is very likely smaller than that reference. The label asks 75 to 100 grams a day for a 4kg to 6kg dog, and the table on the bag is the one to work from.