Natural & Delicious N&D Tropical Selection Adult Mini: Lamb, Spelt, Oats & Tropical Fruits review

The Good band is where this recipe finishes, with the typical bag of adult dry food keeping it company in the same band. Lamb declared in two forms does most of the lifting. Spelt and oats are in the mix, yet the carbohydrate estimate still comes in at 43.2% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of a dry food. Protein at 27.5% of dry matter is steady rather than striking, and the vitamin and mineral supplements are conventional in form, which is what keeps this from climbing further.

Ingredients, as declared: lamb (20%), dehydrated lamb protein (20%), spelt (12%), oats (12%), chicken fat, dehydrated herring protein, dried beet pulp, fish oil (from herring), dried carrot, alfalfa meal, inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, yeast extract (source of manno-oligo-saccharides), dried banana (0.5%), dried kiwi (0.5%), dried mango (0.5%), dried papaya (0.5%), dried pineapple (0.5%), dried spinach, psyllium husks and seeds, sodium chloride, dried brewers' yeast, turmeric, aloe vera extract, glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate.

Two lamb entries open the list, fresh lamb at 20% and dehydrated lamb protein at 20%. Cooking takes the water out of the fresh lamb, while the dehydrated entry keeps its weight. That is why the recipe uses both. The finished analysis reads 25.0% protein as fed, equal to 27.5% once the moisture comes out.

Spelt at 12% and oats at 12% are the grains, chosen with more thought than the usual cereal. Spelt is an older relative of wheat that brings a wider spread of nutrients, and dogs intolerant of modern wheat often manage it comfortably, though the gluten has not gone anywhere. Oats are gentle once cooked and bring fibre of their own.

Dried banana, kiwi, mango, papaya and pineapple each come in at 0.5%. They give the bag its name and a little antioxidant colour, and the honest reading is that they are decoration on a recipe that already stands up without them.

The animal side is broader than the front of the pack suggests. Chicken fat is the added fat here. Dehydrated herring protein brings a second animal protein, and the long chain omega 3s come from herring oil. Worth knowing if lamb was the reason you picked this bag up.

Inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides are there as prebiotics, with a yeast extract for its manno-oligo-saccharides. Dried beet pulp adds the bulkier fibre. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate finish the list without a printed quantity, and the trace minerals are supplied in the standard oxide and sulphate forms.

Bags run from 1.5kg up to 5kg.

As a rough measure, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through about 217 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). This is the small-breed cut, so a realistic bowl here is a good deal lighter than that and a bag lasts correspondingly longer.