Ruff's Recipes Puppy Cartons: Puppy's Chicken Supper review

Both cartons land in our Excellent band. So does the typical puppy wet food, which makes this a competitive category to stand out in. These two hold their own, finishing within a whisker of one another.

Protein and processing reads Excellent on both cartons, nutritional balance and transparency read Outstanding, value keeps step with the overall in Excellent, and the reasons for those readings are visible on the pack. The fresh meat share is high, the list is itemised to a fraction of a percent, and the analysis bears out what the front of the carton claims.

Ingredients, as declared: Freshly Prepared Chicken (56.7%), Salmon (6.3%), Carrot (4%), Pea Protein (2.6%), Blueberry (0.6%), Flaxseed (0.6%), Chicory Root (as a source of prebiotic FOS) (0.14%), Dried Herbs & Botanicals (0.2%) (Seaweed 0.05%, Nettle 0.02%, Rosemary 0.015%, Bay 0.015%, Dill 0.015%, Mint 0.015%, Oregano 0.015%, Thyme 0.015%, Chamomile 0.01%, Turmeric 0.01%, Reishi Mushroom 0.005%, Valerian Root 0.005%), Dried Blueberry. Dried Herbs & Botanicals (0.2%) (Seaweed, Nettle, Rosemary, Bay, Dill, Mint, Oregano, Thyme (0.015%), Chamomile, Turmeric, Reishi Mushroom, Valerian Root) Dried Blueberry.

Freshly prepared meat is the headline on both, at 56.7% chicken in the Chicken Supper and 63% turkey in the Turkey Casserole. Fresh meat is weighed before cooking, so part of that mass is water. In a wet food the water largely stays in the pack, and the analysis backs the claim up: protein converts to 39.3% of dry matter and fat to 32.1%.

Carbohydrate is the striking figure. It is estimated at 9.0% of dry matter against the 13.6% usual for a puppy wet food. That is what happens when the only starch on the list is 4% carrot in one recipe and 4% sweet potato in the other. Fibre lands at 7.1% of dry matter, most of it coming from those vegetables and the chicory.

Chicory root at 0.14% goes in as a source of prebiotic FOS. That is a soluble fibre the gut's good bacteria live on, and a sensible thing to find in a food aimed at digestions still finding their feet. Flaxseed at 0.6% adds plant omega 3 to the fats.

Pea protein at 2.6% is the one entry that gives pause. Pea protein is a byproduct of pea processing, and it is a plant route to a higher protein figure, not a meat one. At 2.6% it is a small share of a recipe this meaty, though it is still worth knowing about.

The dried herb and botanical blend at 0.2% is itemised right down to seaweed at 0.05% and reishi mushroom at 0.005%, which is unusual honesty for what is essentially a garnish. Read it as seasoning with a nod to wellbeing; these recipes stand on their meat.

The additive panel is brief: vitamin A at 3,600 IU and vitamin D3 at 300 IU, with zinc at 30 mg, iron at 14.4 mg, manganese at 2.4 mg and copper at 1.44 mg. Ash converts to 12.5% of dry matter, so there is plenty of mineral in the pack for bone being laid down at speed. The calcium level is where the two recipes part company, as the variety notes set out.

Puppy's Chicken Supper builds its meat from freshly prepared chicken at 56.7% with salmon at 6.3% behind it. That puts marine protein alongside the poultry, and fish sits in the allergen picture as a result. Carrot at 4% is the vegetable and blueberry at 0.6% the fruit. Calcium here converts to 2.68% of dry matter. For a small or medium pup building bone that is generous mineral support. A large breed growth plan would normally aim lower.

£7.15 a kilo, sold as single 390g cartons.

Wet food goes into the bowl in larger volumes than kibble, and a pup's share of it shifts month by month as they grow. Let the chart on the pack and your puppy's waistline set the amount. As a rough guide, our standard energy estimate has a 10kg pup aged 4 to 12 months working through 576.1 to 704.1 grams a day.