Platinum Adult Dry: Beef review

The beef and the Iberico land in our Excellent band, with the lamb just below them in Good. Good is where the adult dry market's midpoint lands, which puts the lamb shoulder to shoulder with the shelf and the other two a step ahead of it. Protein and processing is the good part: one named meat at 70%, a short list behind it and no unnamed meats or fats anywhere. Nutritional balance is what keeps the total where it is, because fresh meat gives up most of its weight in the oven. Protein converts to between 28.4% and 29.6% of dry matter across the three. Estimated carbohydrate runs from 37.7% to 44.2% of dry matter, under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food but not by a wide margin. Protein and processing reads Good on all three, and transparency reads Outstanding right across the group. Nutritional balance reads Good for the beef and the lamb, with Average for the Iberico.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh beef meat 70 %, potatoes*, peas*, lentils*, apple pulp*, fish*, brewer's yeast*, salmon oil (omega-3), olive oil, yucca extract, green-lipped mussel extract, carrots*, tomatoes*, african marigold*, dandelion*, broccoli*, green tea*, chamomile*, oregano*, milk thistle seed*, cranberry seed*, seaweed*, potassium chloride. (*dried, cold-pressed, virgin)

Each recipe opens with 70% of one fresh meat. Hold on to that word fresh. Water accounts for most of that declared weight, and with nothing dried behind it, the finished kibbles declare 23% to 24% protein as fed. For a dry food that is a moderate figure, and it follows honestly from building the meat side entirely out of fresh material.

The plant side is where the three separate. The beef leans on potatoes, peas and lentils, the Iberico on potatoes alone, and the lamb on broken rice. Estimated carbohydrate follows the same order, 30.5% as fed on the beef rising to 35.8% on the lamb, which leaves the beef the leanest bowl of the three on starch.

One entry on each list is simply fish, with no species attached, and salmon oil follows it. In practice that means these recipes carry marine omega 3s from more than one source, and it also means the label cannot tell you which fish, which is the one place its naming slips.

The shared supporting cast is the same every time. Brewer's yeast brings B vitamins and a useful spread of amino acids, and apple pulp adds soft fibre. Yucca extract is included for the effect owners notice on the lawn, and olive oil sits with the fish oils. All three carry green-lipped mussel extract as the joint entry, a marine ingredient long favoured for stiff older dogs.

Then comes the flourish: carrots and tomatoes, african marigold, dandelion and broccoli, then green tea, chamomile and oregano, with milk thistle seed and cranberry seed, and finally seaweed at the end. All of it is cold pressed and all of it sits in small amounts. They are seasoning rather than structure, and the meat is doing the real work.

The added minerals are identical across the range and dosed openly. Per kilo of food that means zinc at 150 mg, iron at 75 mg, manganese at 40 mg, copper at 19 mg, iodine at 3 mg and selenium at 0.2 mg. Calcium sits between 1.85% and 1.98% of dry matter depending on the meat, an adult level and not a growth one.

Fresh beef at 70%, with potatoes, peas and lentils carrying the starch and not a cereal anywhere in the recipe. At 16% fat this is the richest of the three, and the lightest on starch, with estimated carbohydrate at 37.7% of dry matter. For a dog with a good appetite and plenty to do, it is the natural pick.

Regular pieces come in 1.5kg and 5kg bags, and in 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, 25kg and 30kg built from 5kg bags. Mini pieces are sold in 900g, singly or in packs of 2 or 3.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs between 232 and 239 grams a day, depending on which meat you choose. Behind that sits a target of around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The labels themselves ask 165 to 200 grams for a dog of 12kg to 15kg, so begin in the middle and let your own dog settle it.