Winalot Hearty Duos: Lamb And Turkey In Jelly review

Protein and processing reads Poor on this tin, which is what puts it in our Average band, some way under the Excellent band the typical adult wet food occupies. The reasons are consistent ones, and none of them is dramatic. Named meat accounts for 8% of the tin, and what else the animal content holds is never described. The grain goes unnamed too, and once the water is set aside roughly a third of what remains is estimated carbohydrate. Plenty of dogs have eaten well for years on tins built exactly like this one. A thin label is what the band is marking here, not the dinner itself.

Ingredients, as declared: Meat and animal derivatives* (of which Lamb 4% and Turkey 4%), Cereals*, Vegetable protein extracts, Minerals, Various sugars, *Natural ingredients (96% natural ingredients)

Lamb and turkey are a genuinely good pairing on paper. Lamb is highly digestible and strongly flavoured, turkey is lean and easy on the stomach, and between them they cover a dog that finds chicken dull and beef heavy. What the label gives you of them is 4% each, declared inside a meat and animal derivatives entry that could hold any warm-blooded land animal and any part of it. The 96% natural ingredients claim beside it speaks to sourcing rather than to what those parts are.

Cereals come next, unnamed, with vegetable protein extracts behind them contributing protein from an unstated plant. Plant protein is not as complete for a dog as animal protein, and because neither entry names its source, a dog with a known intolerance cannot be steered around anything with confidence. Between them they account for the carbohydrate, which converts to an estimated 32.0% of dry matter where the typical adult wet food runs at 15.8%.

Various sugars round the list off. In a jelly tin they help the jelly set and make the first mouthful more inviting, which is the whole point of this format for a dog that dawdles over dinner. The label declares it openly. It is one to weigh if added sugars are something you keep out of your dog's bowl.

The analysis is the plainest part of the label. Protein converts to 35.1% of dry matter and fat to 18.9%, both moderate, with energy declared at 79 kcal per 100g. The added panel is fully dosed. Vitamin A is at 1800 IU/kg, vitamin D3 at 172 IU/kg and vitamin E at 25 IU/kg. Then come zinc at 19 mg/kg, iron at 12 mg/kg, manganese at 1.5 mg/kg, copper at 1.4 mg/kg and iodine at 0.41 mg/kg. A tin like this leans on that panel for its micronutrition, so it is good to see every entry carrying a figure.

Sold as a case of 12 tins at 400g each.

On a maintenance estimate of 840 kcal a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition (110 × bodyweight^0.75), daily feeding lands near 1063 grams. For a dog between 12kg and 25kg, the tin's own guide asks 930 to 1530 grams a day.