Pro Plan Veterinary Diets HA Dry review

Ingredients, as declared: Corn starch*, Hydrolysed soya protein, Minerals, Coconut oil, Sugar*, Rapeseed oil, Cellulose, Soya oil, Aminoacids, Fish oil, Monoglycerides, Vitamins, Gum guar, Antioxidants, *Purified carbohydrate sources, Hydrolysed protein source

There is no meat anywhere on this label. Corn starch opens it and hydrolysed soya protein follows, and that pairing is the entire concept. The protein has been broken into fragments, and the fragments are what the maker is selling here, not any particular ingredient. The asterisks are the maker's own, marking the purified carbohydrate sources and the hydrolysed protein source at the foot of the list.

Fish oil sits in the back half, so something fish-derived reaches the bowl even though no meat does. Sugar is on the list too, carrying the same asterisk as the corn starch, which is the maker saying it is doing a job as a refined carbohydrate rather than as a sweetener. If your dog is mid-trial, both are facts to have in front of you.

A recipe leaning on one processed protein needs help to fill out the profile, so added amino acids are listed here in their own right. Cellulose and gum guar handle fibre and texture, while coconut oil, rapeseed oil and soya oil between them carry the fat.

Moisture is declared at 7.5%, so no assumed figure is needed for the conversions here. Protein works out at 22.7% of dry matter and fat at 11.9%, with the carbohydrate estimate at 56.2% and energy at 367 kcal per 100g. Purified starch doing nearly all the carrying is what lifts that carbohydrate figure, and in a diet of this kind it is the intention and not a slip. What it means for your dog is settled in the consulting room, not on this page.

The printed additive panel names vitamin D3 at 1000 IU per kilo and vitamin E at 350. Iron follows at 150 mg per kilo, iodine at 2.3, copper at 16 and manganese at 56, and it stops there.

Bag sizes run 3kg, 7kg and 11kg. The label's table asks for 280 grams a day at 15kg, rising to 580 grams at 70kg, and on a therapeutic diet the practice normally settles the portion rather than the bag.