Nutrivet

Nutrivet Instinct Adult: Balance review

Name: Nutrivet Instinct Adult: Balance
Brand: Nutrivet

67.7/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

A grain-free range whose label starts with a run of named meats and keeps going, through egg and seaweed extracts to joint compounds. The three bags share one composition, so choosing between them means choosing protein and fat levels. Two read Excellent and the Balance a step below in Good.

Where to buy: coming soon

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Our view

Likely to suit

A dog built for a meat-heavy bowl, with 39% protein or more declared on every bag
Owners who want several named animals
Stiffer or older dogs, with chondroitin and N-acetyl-glucosamine in each recipe
Sporting dogs, on the Energetic & Nutritional at 21% fat
Multi-dog homes, as the recipes differ only in their panels

Worth watching

No percentages, so the running order is the only guide to proportions
Two animal entries with no species named
Salmon and egg in every bag

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

67.7/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyPoor

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs. The energy figures are estimates, so watch your dog's shape and adjust the portion from there.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Energetic 72.4
Nutritive 70.2
Balance 67.7

Three recipes across Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The protein does the lifting; the label, with no percentages and two unnamed animal entries, is what holds the range back.

What's in it

Chicken, lamb, turkeyFresh meats that lose most of their water in the oven. No percentages anywhere.
Potato, peasThe starch.
Chicken oil and fat, salmonFish in every recipe.
Dried whole egg, dried chicken, dried lambThe dried meats do more work than their position suggests.
Protein from dried peasLifts the protein figure with no meat involved.
Salmon oil, beetroot pulp, green beans, sweet potato, tomato
Apple, alfalfa, chicory root, yeast, fennel, cranberry, blackcurrant jelly
Dried plasma proteins, poultry hydrolysateNeither names a species, so no strict single-animal trial.
FOS, MOS, taurine, seaweed extracts, yuccaPrebiotics, a heart amino acid, bladderwrack and clubweed, and yucca for stool odour.
Chondroitin sulphate, N-acetyl-glucosamine, L-carnitine, rosemary and green tea extractsJoint compounds, then natural antioxidants, all at trace level.

Vitamins A and D3 with iron, copper, manganese, zinc, iodine and selenium, each dosed per kilo, at levels well above the other two bags.

Zinc at 300 mg and iron at 350 mg per kilo, the maker's published figures and far higher than its stablemates.

Named ingredients

Chicken, lamb, turkey, potato, peas, chicken oil and fat, salmon, dried whole egg, dried chicken, dried lamb, protein from dried peas, salmon oil, beetroot pulp, green beans, sweet potato, tomato, apple, alfalfa, chicory root, yeast, fennel leaf, cranberry, blackcurrant jelly, dried plasma proteins, poultry hydrolysate potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), taurine, fucus vesiculosus (bladderwrack) extract, ascophyllum nodosum (clubweed) extract, yucca schidigera extract, chondroitin sulphate, N-acetyl-glucosamine, L-carnitine tartrate, rosemary extract, green tea extract.

Against the range

Protein, declared: 39%; 42% on the other two.
Fat, declared: 15%; 16% and 21%.
Moisture: Not declared; 10% on the other two.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 33.1%; Highest; 19.5% on the Energetic.

The gentlest panel of the three.

All three bags publish the same ingredient list: chicken, lamb and turkey first, salmon behind, then dried egg, chicken and lamb, with potato and peas for starch and no grain. A long tail follows of prebiotics, seaweed extracts, joint compounds and antioxidants.

No percentage appears beside any ingredient, and the poultry hydrolysate and plasma proteins name no species. The recipes differ only in their analysis: protein runs from 42.4% to 46.7% of dry matter and carbohydrate from 19.5% to 33.1%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

370.8 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

39%

Fat

15%

Fibre

Ash

5.5%

Dry weight

Protein

42.4%

Fat

16.3%

Fibre

2.2%

Ash

Carbs

33.1%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

80.6%

Carbs

16.9%

Veg

0.2%

Oils

2.2%

Pricing & size