Naturo Adult Grain Free Trays: Turkey With Potato And Vegetables review

The three trays finish shoulder to shoulder, the turkey and the salmon in our Excellent band with the chicken a whisker below in Good. Adult wet food has its middle in that same Excellent band. Three things carry them: one animal named and declared at 65%, a plant base weighed down to the fraction, and an estimated carbohydrate at or below the wet-food norm. Transparency returns Outstanding on all three and protein and processing Good. Nutritional balance ranges between Good and Outstanding, while value reads Excellent on the turkey and the salmon and Good on the chicken. Because the recipes are so closely matched, the decision between them is about your dog's animal and appetite rather than about one tray being better made than another.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 65%, Vegetables 20% (from 3.9% Dried Potato, Carrots and Peas), Minerals, Sunflower Oil 0.75%, Salmon Oil 0.3%, Tomato Powder 0.15%, Dried Kelp 0.08%, Dried Cranberry 0.05%, Dried Blueberry 0.05%, Dried Chicory Root 0.04%, Yeast 0.04%, Dried Basil 0.016%, Yucca Powder 0.01%, Pomegranate Extract 0.002%

Sixty-five per cent of each tray is one named animal. On the chicken tray the label goes a step further and shows that 5% of that figure is chicken broth, the sort of detail most makers leave you to guess at. All three of these animals digest easily, and turkey in particular tends to be the gentler of the birds.

The plant side is declared as vegetables at 20%, rehydrated from 3.9% dried potato, carrots and peas. That is a fair way to describe it, though it does mean the tray does not hold a fifth of its weight in fresh vegetables. The starch load is ordinary even where the headline looks large. Estimated carbohydrate lands between 14.8% and 16.6% of dry matter, either side of the 15.8% typical of adult wet food.

Fat is where these trays differ from most of the wet shelf. Every label carries sunflower oil at 0.75%, with salmon oil at 0.3% behind it. Take the moisture out and fat converts to between 30.0% and 37.5% of dry matter, with energy between 114 and 141 kcal per 100g. Sunflower oil is a gentle plant oil that brings vitamin E along, and salmon oil covers the omega-3 side. The richness comes from decent sources. It still means these are trays for a dog with the appetite and the activity to use it.

The list then runs a long tail: tomato powder, dried kelp, cranberry, blueberry, chicory root, yeast, basil, yucca powder and pomegranate extract, each weighed and none above a fraction of a per cent. The inulin in chicory root is a soluble fibre that suits the gut bacteria, and kelp carries natural iodine. None of them is the reason to buy the tray. The 65% of named animal is.

All three panels print their doses: vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, iron, copper and manganese, with vitamin D3 on the chicken and turkey trays. The salmon tray's panel lists no vitamin D3 and carries slightly higher zinc and iron instead.

Turkey at 65%. Of the three it is the leanest and lightest at 114 kcal per 100g, and once moisture is stripped out its protein is the highest at 38.0% of dry matter. The sensible starting point for a dog who does not need the extra richness.

£3.75 a kilo, in a single 400g tray size, sold in packs of 7 and 12.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works out at between £2.23 and £2.76 a day depending on the tray, or roughly 596 to 737 grams. That is measured against about 840 kcal a day of maintenance energy (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard estimate).

The pack's own feeding table cannot be used here. It gives a single row reading 2500 to 3750 grams a day for a 5kg dog, several times what a dog that size could eat, so the guide above rests on energy alone.