Naturediet Feel Good Grain Free Puppy review

The middle of the wet puppy field already sits in our Excellent band, so this is a demanding category, and this recipe finishes a step clear of it in Outstanding. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding with protein and processing close behind at Excellent and value Outstanding alongside them, a set carried by the meat share.

The reasons are printed on the carton: 60% chicken, a vegetable list you can count on one hand, and, in dry matter, 41.4% protein with 34.5% fat.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken - 60%, Carrot 2%, Potato 2%, Parsnip 1.5%, Dried Egg, Dried Seaweed

The whole story here is chicken at 60%, with nothing hiding behind it. There is no meat meal, no unnamed derivative and no second species, which makes this one of the plainest wet labels a puppy owner will read.

The vegetables are close to decorative by weight, with carrot at 2%, potato at 2% and parsnip at 1.5%. They contribute a little fibre and colour, and they leave carbohydrate at an estimated 8.6% of dry matter, below the 13.6% typical of a wet puppy food.

Dried egg is the recipe's quiet asset. For completeness and ease of digestion, egg protein is hard to beat, and that is useful in a growth food. It does mean egg belongs on the allergen picture next to chicken.

Dried seaweed closes the list. Kelp brings iodine in quantity, and a spread of other minerals with it. A pinch goes a long way. That is why it sits right at the end of a list ordered by weight.

The analysis reads rich. Protein at 12.0% and fat at 10.0% as fed convert to 41.4% and 34.5% of dry matter on the declared 71.0% moisture. The energy figure is a declared 139 kcal per 100g against 106 for a typical wet puppy food. That is a lot of nutrition per spoonful, and it is the reason portions want measuring properly.

Ash converts to 10.3% of dry matter, which tells you minerals are present in sensible quantity without telling you how they are split. Calcium is the split that matters in growth and it is not printed. A big breed pup should have that number checked with the maker or with a vet before this becomes the only food in the bowl. The added panel behind it names vitamins A and D3 with iron, copper, manganese and zinc, each dosed per kilo.

£4.02 a kilo, sold in 18 x 390g cartons.

For a puppy up to 10kg the pack asks 650g a day, climbing to 2145g a day for one heading past 40kg. Those figures move quickly while a dog is growing. Weigh to the guide for your pup's weight this week and adjust as they fill out.