Pro Plan Small & Mini Adult 9+ OptiAge review

Our Average band takes this one in, and the bulk of adult dry food sits a step higher in Good. Cereal is the main reason. Wheat, rice and corn take up much of the list, the named chicken share is 15% before the oven removes its water, and the poultry protein behind it never says which bird. The figures themselves are ordinary rather than thin, with protein converting to 31.5% of dry matter and carbohydrate to 41.8% against the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Calcium works out at 1.38% of dry matter, a comfortable adult level for a little dog.

Ingredients, as declared: High quality chicken (including back and chest) (15%), Dried poultry protein, Wheat, Rice (12%), Corn, Corn protein meal, Vegetable oil fractions (5.5%), Dried beet pulp, Wheat gluten, Soya meal, Minerals, Animal fats, Fish oil, Digest, Yeast

Chicken at 15% leads, with back and chest specified. The label says fresh chicken, so a good deal of that 15% is water that goes in the oven. Dried poultry protein takes second place, and much of the finished kibble's protein comes from there. The shame is in the wording: it stops at the family and never reaches the bird.

Wheat sits third and rice at 12% fourth, with wheat gluten, corn and corn protein meal filling in behind them. That is a lot of cereal for a small dog's small daily portion. Of the grains, wheat is the one most often at the centre of a dog's dietary grumbles. Dried beet pulp handles the fibre. It lands at 2.2% of dry matter.

The entry that separates this range from the brand's ordinary adult recipes is vegetable oil fractions at 5.5%. Sitting above the beet pulp and the soya, it is clearly there to do a job. A fractionated plant oil is chosen for the particular fats it holds, not for bulk energy. The label never names the plant. We can say where the entry sits and why, though not what it came from.

Yeast closes the list and is worth a mention on a food written for older dogs, since yeast is where the prebiotic fractions in many recipes originate and it earns its place on palatability alone. Fish oil a little before it brings marine omega 3s, and digest is the flavour coating that gets a nine year old with a quieter appetite to finish the bowl.

The mineral panel is dosed one entry at a time. Zinc is at 130 mg per kilo, iron at 140 mg, manganese at 54 mg, copper at 15 mg, iodine at 2.3 mg and selenium at 0.16 mg. Vitamin E is at 650 IU and vitamin C at 165 mg. That is a properly specified panel, and it sits oddly alongside the animal fats and the soya meal further up, which say far less about themselves.

Sold in a single 3kg bag.

The label's own table asks 30 grams a day for a 1kg dog, 90 grams at 5kg and 145 grams at 10kg, taking under an hour of activity as the baseline. Small dogs feel a generous scoop quickly. Weigh the portion out, and let their waistline tell you when you have it right.