Wildways Senior Wet: Beef with Venison review

Two of the three recipes are in our Excellent band and the turkey with salmon is a step below in our Good band. The analysis explains that step, and the list has almost nothing to do with it. Fat converts to 17.5% of dry matter, the leanest reading here, and the carbohydrate estimate reaches 26.5% where the typical adult wet food runs at 15.8%. On a recipe with no starch source beyond pea flour, a good part of that estimate is the by-difference method rather than actual starch.

It is worth saying plainly that a Good placing on a wet shelf whose middle already reaches our Excellent band still describes an honestly built recipe. Transparency reads Outstanding on all three and nutritional balance is Outstanding on two of them, Excellent on the turkey. Protein and processing reads Good, with the beef and venison a step up, and value reads Excellent on the two ahead and Good on the turkey with salmon. The meats are named and numbered on every label, and the leanest of the trio is lean on purpose.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh Chicken (33%), Fresh Beef (26%), Venison (4%), Broth, Pumpkin (4%), Apple (3%), Pea Flour, Derivatives Of Vegetable Origin (1.4 %), Lignocellulose (1%), Egg Powder (1%), Minerals and Vitamins (0.8%), Salmon Oil (0.5%), Mannan-oligosaccharides (0.5%), Inulin (source of Fructo-oligosaccharides 0.5%), Kale (0.5%), Thyme (0.3%).

Every animal on every label is named, and the headline meats carry figures. Fresh wild boar at 52% with lamb at 14%, fresh turkey at 53% with salmon at 4%, and fresh chicken at 33% with beef at 26% and venison at 4%. Protein converts to between 38.6% and 40.0% of dry matter across the three, which is a solid reading for wet food and consistent enough that switching between them changes little.

The fruit differs with the format. The two 400g recipes take blackberries at 4%, a genuine antioxidant source in a small amount. The 300g beef with venison goes for pumpkin at 4% with apple at 3% and kale at 0.5%. Pea flour follows at 2% or 3% on the two boar and turkey labels. It is milled from roasted peas and useful for fibre and binding, though plant protein never digests as well for a dog as the meat above it.

Lignocellulose is declared at 1% on all three. It is a purified plant fibre, produced as a by-product of agriculture or milling, and it adds bulk without adding energy. Of everything on these lists it is the least appealing. It also explains the crude fibre on the beef with venison recipe, declared at 4.3% and converting to 16.0% of dry matter. That is high for anything served wet.

The beef with venison label is the busiest of the three in a useful way. Egg powder at 1% brings compact, high quality protein. Mannan-oligosaccharides and inulin at 0.5% each act as prebiotic fibres for the gut bacteria. Taurine is declared at 800 mg, an amino acid that matters for heart and eye function and one that older dogs are worth supporting on.

Fish is on all three lists, either as salmon at 4% or as salmon oil at 0.5%, which brings omega-3 to a range aimed at dogs whose joints and coat are no longer young. Calcium carbonate at 0.3% appears on the two 400g recipes, and declared calcium runs from 1.0% to 1.87% of dry matter, a tighter spread than the brand's adult line manages.

The added panels vary by recipe. The wild boar label carries the fullest, with vitamin A at 800 IU, D3 at 250 IU, E at 125 mg, B1 at 1 mg and biotin at 0.4 mg. Chelated zinc, iron, manganese and iodine sit alongside them. The turkey with salmon prints only D3 at 190 IU, E at 164 IU and biotin at 0.4 mg. The two labels are not interchangeable on that front, even though the rest of the construction rhymes.

Fresh chicken at 33% leading fresh beef at 26% and venison at 4%, with the longest list in the set: egg powder at 1%, mannan-oligosaccharides, inulin, kale and thyme all appear. Crude fibre is declared at 4.3%, converting to 16.0% of dry matter, and taurine is printed at 800 mg.

£7.48 a kilo on the two 400g recipes and £9.97 a kilo on the 300g beef with venison.

The usual maintenance estimate for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition is about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75). Daily feeding falls between 792 and 1050 grams, and between £6.16 and £7.90 a day. The turkey with salmon needs the largest portion of the three, being the lightest in energy.