Royal Canin Renal Thin Slices In Gravy review

Ingredients, as declared: Poultry by-products, corn starch mixture, beef by-products, pork by-products, maize flour, sunflower oil refined, minerals, powdercellulose, pork blood products, dried beet pulp, fish oil, fructo-oligosaccharides, marigold meal. Protein sources: poultry by-products (16%), beef by-products (3.3%), pork by-products (3.1%).

Poultry by-products lead at 16%, with beef by-products at 3.3% and pork by-products at 3.1% named as the other two protein sources. Second on the list is a corn starch mixture, and maize flour comes just after it. Starch does a lot of the work here. Pork blood products, dried beet pulp, fructo-oligosaccharides and marigold meal fill out the rest, with refined sunflower oil and fish oil supplying the fats and powdered cellulose the fibre.

The analysis is where a diet of this kind shows its hand. Protein is declared at just 3.7%, which is 18.5% of dry matter, while fat converts to 30.0% and the carbohydrate estimate to 42.5%. Crude ash comes to 6.0% of dry matter and calcium to 0.75%. Restricting protein and holding the mineral load down is the defining move of a renal formulation, and the calories arrive from fat and starch instead. A figure that would look thin on an everyday food is doing exactly what it was put there to do.

Moisture is declared at 80.0%, high even for a wet food, and energy works out at 94 kcal per 100g. Gravy and a high water content have a practical purpose beyond palatability when a dog needs to take on more fluid. Thin slices also give a picky eater something easier to face than a solid block.

Phosphorus is not printed on the panel, which is the one number owners of dogs on a renal plan tend to hunt for, so it is worth asking for it directly at the practice. The panel does declare vitamin D3 at 250 IU per kilogram, iron at 10mg, iodine at 0.3mg, copper at 2.6mg, manganese at 3mg and zinc at 30mg. Clinoptilolite at 0.4g goes in as a technological additive.

On allergens, the same tray holds beef, pork, poultry as an unnamed category, maize and fish oil. If your dog steers clear of any of those, that is worth knowing before you order. The printed feeding guide starts at 200 grams a day for a 2kg dog and rises steeply with weight, though it does not step smoothly all the way up. The amount your dog is fed should come from the vet managing the case rather than from the pack.

The pack is 100g, available on its own or in a box of twelve.