Waitrose

Waitrose Complete & Balanced Senior Dry review

Name: Waitrose Complete & Balanced Senior Dry
Brand: Waitrose

33.7/100Average

DryAdultSenior

Average on our scoring, and the gap to a typical dry food is almost all about naming. Waitrose takes its category-style adult label and points it at older dogs: fat down to 8.0%, energy at 330 kcal per 100g, and glucosamine and chondroitin at the foot of the list. The analysis itself raises no concern.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer links are coming soon. Once we have them from UK retailers, where to buy and the best price will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Older dogs slowing down. Fat stops at 8.0% and energy at 330 kcal per 100g
A senior that has always eaten anything without complaint
Owners who like a joint entry on the pack, with glucosamine and chondroitin both listed
Big old dogs, as the feeding table runs on past 45kg
One senior bag picked up with the groceries

Worth watching

Chondroitin is declared under fish and fish derivatives, so the recipe is not fish free
Glucosamine at 0.02% and chondroitin at 0.01% read as a nod to older joints, well short of a dose
Cereals, oils and fats and the meat all stay at category level. A dog with a known trigger cannot be cleared on this label

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

33.7/100Average

Protein and processingPoor

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyAverage

ValueAverage

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult and senior dogs of every size. If your dog has ever reacted to a food, the unnamed meat and cereals mean you cannot rule its trigger out here.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult, Senior

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Waitrose Complete & Balanced Senior Dry 33.7

All one Average. Typical dry food: Good.

The Average band comes from how little the pack names, and says nothing against what is in the bowl.

What's in it

Cereals (wholegrains)32%Wholegrain keeps the bran and germ, with their fibre and B vitamins. The grain is never named, so it may change between runs.
Meat and animal derivatives32%Only 4% is identified, as chicken meal. The rest could be any part of any carcass, so it cannot be graded.
Vegetables (pea flour)4%
Derivatives of vegetable origin (beet pulp, yucca extract)3.5%, 0.02%Beet pulp for fibre.
Oils and fatsUnnamed. Fat comes to a lean 8.7% of dry matter.
Seeds (linseed)1%Plant omega 3, which a dog converts slowly. A background contribution.
Minerals
Molluscs and crustaceans (glucosamine)0.02%Shellfish shells are its usual source.
Fish and fish derivatives (chondroitin)0.01%The only reason fish is on this label.

Moisture is not declared, so the dry matter figures assume 8% and the carbohydrate estimate may run high.

Named ingredients

Cereals (32% Wholegrains), Meat and Animal Derivatives (32%, of which 4% Chicken Meal), Vegetables (4% Pea Flour), Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (3.5% Beet Pulp, 0.02% Yucca Extract), Oils and Fats, Seeds (1% Linseed), Minerals, Molluscs and Crustaceans (0.02% Glucosamine), Fish and Fish Derivatives (0.01% Chondroitin).

Against the range

One senior recipe on a category-style label. Cereals and meat and animal derivatives are each declared at 32%, and only 4% of the meat is named, as chicken meal. Fat is set lean at 8.0% for an older dog, and moisture goes undeclared, so the dry matter figures rest on the standard 8%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

330 kcal/100g

Protein

27%

Fat

Fibre

Ash

10%

Dry weight

Protein

29.3%

Fat

8.7%

Fibre

4.3%

Ash

10.9%

Carbs

46.8%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

33.5%

Carbs

44.3%

Veg

12.1%

Oils

4.3%

Other

5.8%

Pricing & size