PitPat Senior Dry review

The Average band here is easy to account for. Whole grain corn takes the top slot, and the dried poultry protein below it is declared at 19.0% without ever saying which bird. Estimated carbohydrate reaches 60.4% of dry matter, where 46.2% is the norm for adult dry food. Against the Good band that most adult dry foods manage, that is a recipe leaning further on grain and less on meat.

It is worth separating that from how the food behaves in the bowl. The list is short and clean. Corn and rice are both easy grains for a dog to digest, the added panel is dosed in full, and there is nothing on this label likely to upset a steady older stomach.

Ingredients, as declared: Whole grain corn, poultry protein (dried) 19.0%, rice, beet fibre, poultry protein (hydrolysed), poultry fat, minerals, chicory root (ground) (natural source of inulin), New Zealand green-lipped mussel meat (Perna canaliculus) (dried).

Nine ingredients is a short list by any standard, and short lists have real virtues for an older dog: fewer things to react to and fewer places for a change to hide. The order is the issue, not the length. Whole grain corn comes first, rice third, and the dried poultry protein sits between them at 19.0%.

Whole grain corn carries a blanket reputation it only partly deserves. Milled and cooked properly it is digestible and brings protein, linoleic acid and antioxidants along with it. What it is not is meat, and when it heads the list of a food written for older dogs, the balance of the recipe follows it. Carbohydrate is estimated at 60.4% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

The poultry protein is dried, the concentrated form, so its 19.0% carries further into the kibble than the same figure on a fresh meat would. It is backed by hydrolysed poultry protein for palatability and poultry fat for energy. All three stop at poultry, so the bird is never identified. If your dog has a known chicken sensitivity, that leaves a question this label cannot answer.

Protein finishes at 21.7% of dry matter and fat at 8.7%, with energy at 344.2 kcal per 100 grams. Those are gentle numbers, and perfectly adequate for an older dog whose pace has dropped and who is still holding condition. For one starting to lose muscle, which a good many seniors do, keep an eye on the topline and be ready to serve a protein-rich topper alongside it.

The gentler thinking shows at the bottom of the list. Beet fibre steadies the gut, and the prebiotic is inulin from the ground chicory root. New Zealand green-lipped mussel, dried, brings up the rear, the shellfish usually chosen with older joints in mind. The dosed panel is full behind them, with taurine at 1000 mg/kg, L-carnitine at 300 mg/kg, vitamin C at 200 mg/kg and vitamin E at 400 mg/kg, and zinc and copper supplied as glycine chelates. No moisture is declared, so the dry matter figures work from the 8% typical of a kibble.

£5.88 a kilo, sold in 4.25kg bags singly or three at a time.

For a 15kg adult in moderate condition the guide comes to about 244 grams a day, based on roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), or about £1.43 a day. Older dogs vary widely in what they need, so let condition decide the portion and treat the table as a starting point.