Wainwright's Grain Free Mature Dry Food review

This one lands in our Good band. Before you read anything into that, it is worth knowing why.

Fat has been pulled back to 9.0% for a dog that no longer burns energy the way it used to, and that restraint reads as modest in a system tuned to reward richness. Carbohydrate at 53.7% of dry matter, against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food, accounts for the rest. Protein and processing and nutritional balance both read Average, while transparency comes back Outstanding and value Good. None of that stops the recipe doing the job it was designed for. The dog pictured on this bag, an older one carrying a little more than it should, wants exactly this: a gentler bowl.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey (33%) (Turkey Meal 22.5%, Freshly Prepared Turkey 5%, Turkey Fat 3.5%, Turkey Digest 2%), Sweet Potato (33%), Potato Flake, Whole Peas (5%), Beet Pulp (4%), Potato Protein, Whole Linseed (2%), Dried Carrot (0.5% equivalent to 4% Carrot), Seaweed Meal (0.5%), Chicory Root Extract (as a source of Prebiotic FOS) (0.1%), Dried Broccoli (0.05% equivalent to 0.39% Broccoli), Dried Parsley, Dried Rosehip, Dried Thyme, Glucosamine (0.02%), MSM (0.02%), Yucca Extract (0.02%), Chondroitin (0.014%), Dried Spearmint.

Four parts make up the turkey: 22.5% turkey meal, 2% turkey digest, 5% freshly prepared turkey and 3.5% turkey fat. The meal is where the protein actually comes from, since fresh meat is largely water that goes in the oven. The fat share here is the smallest part of the headline. That is exactly what you would want on a food for a slower dog. Protein still converts to 25.0% of dry matter, so the recipe has trimmed the fat rather than the meat.

Turkey is a good choice for this brief on its own merits. It is easy to digest, highly palatable and naturally leaner than chicken. That is why so many light and senior recipes use it. No other animal is named anywhere on this label, so a dog being kept to one species can stay on it.

With no cereal at all, sweet potato at 33% and potato flake do the binding, with whole peas at 5% behind them. Beet pulp at 4% is the most generous fibre entry in this recipe, giving both the soluble and insoluble kinds, and chicory root extract at 0.1% adds inulin, which feeds the good bacteria further down. An older gut generally appreciates both.

All three joint ingredients are printed with numbers: glucosamine and MSM at 0.02% each, chondroitin at 0.014%. Glucosamine and chondroitin turn up naturally in cartilage and bone, and MSM has a longstanding reputation as an anti-inflammatory. The studies on all three are mixed and far from conclusive. Think of them as steady daily background for an ageing frame, and keep your vet in the loop about anything more serious.

The omega 3 here comes from whole linseed at 2%. No fish appears on the label at all. The whole recipe is fish free. Plant omega 3 takes a dog longer to work up into the skin-active types than a marine oil does. Give an old dog's coat a few weeks to show the difference. Carrot and seaweed at 0.5% each follow, then broccoli, parsley, rosehip, thyme and spearmint at trace level.

The added panel is dosed in print, with zinc at 100mg, iron at 60mg, manganese at 50mg, copper at 8.0mg, iodine at 2.5mg, selenium at 0.1mg and vitamin E at 150mg. Mixed tocopherols keep the fats from turning, a natural preservative and not a chemical one.

£3.67 a kilo from the 15kg bag and £6.00 a kilo from the 2kg.

As a guide, an older 15kg dog in moderate condition takes about 250 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). Feeding then runs at roughly £0.92 a day. The bag's own table asks 185 to 315 grams for a dog of 12kg to 25kg, and a settled older dog will usually sit towards the lower end of a range like that.