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In The Kibble
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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

These foods are different formats, so cost is shown but not ranked: wet and kibble are priced on very different amounts of water.

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

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 NutriSource Senior Chicken & Rice Swap Remove 02 NutriSource Element Series Outback Trails Swap Remove 03 TruDog Grain Free Turkey & Duck Swap Remove 04 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Senior Chicken & Rice 28.9% 02 Element Series Outback Trails 37.8% 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 50.0% Best in this row 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6%
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 Senior Chicken & Rice 45% 40.5% as fed 02 Element Series Outback Trails 32% 29.0% as fed 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 11% 0.0% as fed 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% as fed Best in this row
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 Senior Chicken & Rice 2 of 5 02 Element Series Outback Trails 4 of 5 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 4 of 5 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Senior Chicken & Rice None 02 Element Series Outback Trails None 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Senior Chicken & Rice 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Element Series Outback Trails 1 None in the last 3 years 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None Best in this row 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 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 Senior Chicken & Rice 40.5% 02 Element Series Outback Trails 29.0% 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 0.0% 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 Senior Chicken & Rice 398 02 Element Series Outback Trails 494 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 195 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Senior Chicken & Rice $2.77 26 lb bag, Amazon 02 Element Series Outback Trails $4.41 24 lb bag, Petflow 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- No price on file. 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy
Cost / 1,000 Kcal What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. 01 Senior Chicken & Rice $1.62 02 Element Series Outback Trails $2.46 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- No price on file. 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Senior Chicken & Rice chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, barley, oatmeal 02 Element Series Outback Trails Deboned Lamb, Kangaroo, Deboned Wild Boar, Lamb Meal, Turkey Meal 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck Turkey, turkey broth, turkey liver, ground dried peas, duck 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver

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The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.

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.

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