Skip to content
In The Kibble
My dogs
The Comparison

Three Foods, One Method

The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.

Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Hill's Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée Swap Remove 02 Hill's Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée 15.9% 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 21.4% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% Best in this row
02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée 57% 8.5% as fed 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 52% 7.5% as fed Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed
03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. The count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée 2 of 5 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 3 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée None Best in this row 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 1 Menadione 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée 4 None in the last 3 years 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 4 None in the last 3 years 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row
Starch, As Fed Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée 8.5% 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée 7.5% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée -- 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée -- 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée $6.23 6.4 oz bag, PetSmart 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée $5.61 12.8 oz bag, PetSmart 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
Cost / 1,000 Kcal Lower Is Cheaper To Feed What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée $12.89 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée $12.08 Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Small & Mini Chicken & Barley Entrée Water, chicken, cracked pearled barley, pork liver, whole grain corn 02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Digestion Chicken & Rice Entrée Chicken Broth, Green Beans, Chicken, Turkey, Carrots 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Antibiotic-Free Meat (72.41%): Ground Lean Beef Meat, Beef Hearts, Beef Livers. Organic Vegetables (24.43%): Cabbage, Lettuce, Squash (seasonal)

+ Add A Food

Add A Food

Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.

Keep In The Know,
Know What's In The Bowl

The In the Kibble newsletter. Useful emails for dog owners: what we find inside dog food, how to feed well, and a heads-up when a food is recalled.
DOUBLE OPT-IN // ONE CLICK TO STOP // NEVER SHARED