Orijen Senior review

We land this one in our Excellent band, a clear step above the Good band that adult dry food generally manages. The senior label has not been used as an excuse to thin the recipe out, which is where most of the distance comes from. Protein converts to 43.2% of dry matter, estimated carbohydrate to 23.9% where 46.2% is typical for adult dry food, and the first twelve entries on the ingredients list are animal before a single pulse appears.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh chicken (18%), raw turkey (10%), fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (10%), raw whole herring (6%), raw whole hake (5%), fresh eggs (5%), raw turkey liver (5%), dehydrated chicken (5%), dehydrated turkey (5%), dehydrated mackerel (4%), dehydrated sardine (4%), dehydrated herring (4%), whole red lentils, whole green lentils, whole peas, lentil fibre, whole chickpeas, whole pinto beans, pea starch, pollock oil (2%), chicken fat (2%), whole navy beans, dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole zucchini, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, dried chicory root, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh beet greens, fresh turnip greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

Fresh chicken heads the list at 18% with raw turkey at 10% behind it, and fresh meat is largely water that disappears in the oven, so neither figure survives cooking intact. The dried tier is what keeps the protein where it needs to be: dehydrated chicken and turkey at 5% each, then dehydrated mackerel, sardine and herring at 4% each. Protein lands at 43.2% of dry matter and estimated carbohydrate at 23.9%.

Organ meat is the most striking thing on this label. Chicken giblets, liver and heart together, come in at 10%, with raw turkey liver at another 5%. Few things a dog can be given carry more nutrition per gram than liver. It is heavy in B12 and vitamin A, with copper and folate alongside. It is also intensely palatable, and that counts for more with every year a dog puts on.

Both fats are named on the label, with no generic oil standing in for them, and that matters. Ageing joints and coats draw on long-chain omega 3s, and pollock oil at 2% supplies them. Chicken fat at 2% supplies the everyday energy. Nothing on this list is described merely as vegetable oil. From a label asking you to trust it, that is exactly what you want.

Legume from top to bottom is the plant side: whole red lentils and green lentils, peas and chickpeas, then pinto and navy beans. Lentil fibre and a touch of pea starch bind it together. Pulses like these bring protein and fibre with their starch instead of arriving refined. Dried chicory root further down is the recipe's prebiotic, an inulin source that also happens to sweeten the taste a little.

The additives are brief and every one is dosed: zinc at 105 mg and copper at 5.5 mg per kilo, with vitamin E at 120 IU. The live culture is Enterococcus faecium, there to support the gut. Tocopherols and rosemary extract stop the fats turning, so no synthetic preservative is needed. Calcium comes to 1.48% of dry matter. A grown dog handles that easily. Pumpkin, squash, courgette, kale, cranberries, turmeric and milk thistle run down to lavender at the close. All of it is seasoning, and the food does not lean on it.

£8.42 a kilo, sold in 2kg, 6kg and 11.4kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 226 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which comes to £1.91 a day. For a less active dog of the same weight the label suggests 105 to 180 grams, and with an older dog slowing down, the waistline is the tiebreaker.