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In The Kibble
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The Comparison

Two 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.

Two Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice Swap Remove 02 Royal Canin Small Indoor Adult Swap Remove + Add A Food + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Level Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 21.1% 02 Small Indoor Adult 21.1%
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 Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 55% 49.5% as fed 02 Small Indoor Adult 55% 49.3% 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 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 2 of 5 02 Small Indoor Adult 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice None 02 Small Indoor Adult None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 4 None in the last 3 years 02 Small Indoor Adult 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 Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 49.5% 02 Small Indoor Adult 49.3%
Kcal / Cup 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice 389 02 Small Indoor Adult 354
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice $3.00 30 lb bag, Chewy 02 Small Indoor Adult $8.00 2.5 lb bag, Amazon
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 Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice $1.78 Best in this row 02 Small Indoor Adult $4.88
First Five Ingredients 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites No Corn, Wheat, Soy Chicken & Brown Rice Chicken, Brown Rice, Brewers Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, Chicken Meal 02 Small Indoor Adult Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn, brown rice, chicken fat

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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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