Primal Spirit Complete Wild Waters review

The analysis is not the reason Wild Waters sits in our Good band, on the same rung as the typical cold-pressed food. This is the strongest recipe Primal Spirit prints on paper: protein converts to 35.2% of dry matter, fat to 20.4% and carbohydrate to 31.2%. That last figure sits well under the 43.2% typical for the format. Where it gives ground is on the declarations: no vitamin or mineral addition anywhere, and no calcium figure against the 8.7% crude ash. The fruit and herb tail at 0.125% apiece adds character rather than substance. Value reads Good and transparency Excellent, with protein and processing and nutritional balance both Good, the profile of a straightforward recipe that does not stretch for anything extra.

Ingredients, as declared: 50% fresh fish, 20% fresh chicken, 20% rice, 5.12% beta vulgaris pulp, 3% brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), 1.25% pumpkin, 0.125% pear, 0.125% pineapple, 0.125% thyme (Thymus vulgaris), 0.125% coriander (Coriandrum sativum), 0.125% turmeric (Curcuma longa)

The pellet here is pressed cold, not baked, which is the whole reason this category exists. Compression at low temperature keeps ingredients nearer their original condition than high-heat processing does. The pellet that comes out falls apart in water and does not expand. That matters most for dogs who finish dinner before you have put the scoop down.

Fresh fish at 50% is the largest fish inclusion Primal Spirit prints, and fish is worth having: it brings highly digestible protein and the long-chain omega 3 fats that oily species are prized for. The word fresh does need reading properly, though, because fresh fish comes in carrying most of its water, so far less of it survives into the finished pellet than the headline figure implies. The analysis is where the truth sits, and at 35.2% protein on a dry matter basis it is a good one. Fresh chicken at 20% completes the animal share.

Rice at 20% does the starch, gluten free and among the kindest cereals to a sensitive gut. Beta vulgaris pulp is beet pulp under its Latin name, and its declared 5.12% is oddly precise for an ingredient of that sort. The job it does is straightforward: fermentable fibre, firmer stools and something for the gut bacteria to work on. Brewer's yeast at 3% brings the B vitamins and the savoury smell that gets a bowl finished.

The tail is the shortest of the brand's four recipes. Pumpkin at 1.25% is the only plant inclusion here doing measurable work, and it brings gentle fibre. Pear, pineapple, thyme, coriander and turmeric all sit at 0.125%, a seasoning level, and the printed figures make no pretence otherwise. It gives the recipe a personality without changing what it delivers.

The absences are what a careful buyer will notice. Nothing on this label declares a vitamin or mineral addition, no individual nutrient doses are printed, and crude ash of 8.7% comes with no calcium figure to make sense of it. Fish, chicken and yeast between them are a genuine source of micronutrition, so the recipe is not bare. The label asks you to take that on trust without printing the numbers, and it is fair to know that before you commit to feeding it every day.

£4.03 a kilo, sold as a 1kg bag, a 12kg sack and a 2 x 12kg option.

Using the standard maintenance estimate, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75). At 354 kcal per 100g this recipe covers that in roughly 237g, or £0.96 a day.