Natures Deli Adult Small Breed review

This finishes in our Good band, level with most adult dry food, and both the strengths and the deductions sit in the analysis rather than in the meat. The turkey declaration is generous at 41.6%, carbohydrate converts to just 32.4% of dry matter against 46.2% for a typical adult dry food, and protein reaches 33.0%. What pulls it back is the mineral load: crude ash at 11.5% of dry matter and calcium at 2.09%, both higher than a healthy small adult needs. The pea protein entry also lifts the protein figure without adding meat. Transparency reads Outstanding, and both nutritional balance and protein and processing land on Good, so this is a food with a spread of small deductions rather than a single failing.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey (41.6%; including turkey meal (34%), turkey (5.7%), turkey gravy (1.9%)), brown rice (20.7%), turkey fat, dried beet pulp, dried peas (2.9%), dried chick peas (2.9%), dried sweet potato (2.9%), pea protein, brewers' yeast, dried pumpkin (1.9%), minerals, linseed oil, vegetable stock, dried carrot (0.5%), yeast (as a source of mannan-oligosaccharides (prebiotic MOS; 0.14%)), chicory root extract (as a source of fructo-oligosaccharides (prebiotic FOS; 0.14%)), dried rosemary, yucca schidigera (0.024%), glucosamine (0.012%), dried cranberry, dried dandelion root, dried pomegranate, chondroitin sulphate (0.005%)

Turkey at 41.6% is the headline, and turkey meal at 34% is the engine room of it. Fresh turkey at 5.7% and gravy at 1.9% make up the balance. With the water already out of it, the meal puts far more protein per gram into the kibble than the fresh entry can. The gravy is there for palatability, which small dogs, being notorious about their dinner, tend to appreciate.

One grain appears and no more: brown rice, 20.7%, sitting a long way behind the meat. Dried peas, chick peas and sweet potato follow at 2.9% each, with dried beet pulp for fibre and dried pumpkin at 1.9%. The plant side is deliberately kept small, which is why estimated carbohydrate stops at 32.4% of dry matter.

Pea protein is the one entry that deserves a second look. It is a by-product of pea processing, used to lift a food's protein figure. Plant protein is not as digestible or as complete for a dog as meat protein. It sits below the 2.9% ingredients, so it is not carrying the recipe, but it does mean the 30% on the analysis panel is not entirely turkey.

Fat at 18%, converting to 19.8% of dry matter, makes this a rich food, and that is a reasonable choice for a dog that eats in thimblefuls. Linseed oil supplies omega 3 in its plant form. Fish oil appears nowhere on the list, so the whole recipe stays fish free.

Crude ash at 10.5% and calcium at 2.09% of dry matter are both on the high side. For a healthy adult small dog that is no trouble, and it is simply the reason this is not the bag to reach for during a large breed puppy's growth. Zinc arrives twice: 70 mg as the oxide, then 50 mg as a chelate. A dog absorbs the chelated share more easily.

Yeast and chicory root extract each contribute a prebiotic at 0.14%. The gut bacteria are the ones being fed here, not the dog. Glucosamine at 0.012% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.005% appear at the tail with their percentages printed. Dried cranberry, dandelion root and pomegranate sit alongside them, in the sort of quantities that flatter an ingredients list without changing a dog.

Sold in a 2kg bag.

For scale, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through roughly 233 grams a day on an allowance of about 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the usual maintenance sum). Most dogs eating this one weigh a good deal less than 15kg. The energy figure behind the sum is an estimate, not a declared figure, so portion by eye and adjust to the ribs.