Fish dry food for dogs: what the composition tells you
Advice · · Crunchies
The words “with fish” on a pack won’t tell you how much fish is in the kibble or what else is in it. You find that out from the composition and the analytical constituents on the label. We’ll show you with our own recipes, including the one where fish doesn’t come straight after the first ingredient.
Start with the order of ingredients
Ingredients in the composition are listed in descending order by weight: the first is the one the food contains most of. EU rules on feed labelling require this. The compositions of Crunchies kibble start like this:
| Recipe | Start of the composition |
|---|---|
| Small/Medium | extruded corn, fish meal, lard, corn gluten |
| Adult Large Breed | extruded corn, fish meal, lard, corn gluten |
| Puppy & Junior | extruded corn, fish meal, lard, corn gluten, whole dried eggs |
| Senior & Light | extruded corn, lard, corn gluten, fish meal |
Corn comes first in every one. Crunchies is corn kibble with fish, not kibble made of fish. The fish comes from fish meal, made exclusively from whole white sea fish. We describe how it gets onto the kibble on the About the food page.
Look at the share of animal protein
Crude protein alone doesn’t tell you where the protein comes from. In our kibble, part of it comes from corn and corn gluten, which are plant ingredients. That’s why we also state the share of animal protein for our kibble:
| Recipe | Crude protein | Share of animal protein |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy & Junior | 29% | 90% |
| Small/Medium | 27% | 85% |
| Adult Large Breed | 25% | 85% |
| Senior & Light | 20% | 78% |
The numbers match the order of ingredients. Senior & Light has fish meal only in fourth place and the lowest value in both columns.
What else fish dry food can contain
Fish dry food doesn’t mean that everything animal in it comes from fish. So read the whole composition.
- All four of our kibble recipes contain lard, which is pork fat.
- In Small/Medium, Adult Large Breed and Senior & Light, fish meal is the only source of animal protein.
- Puppy & Junior also contains whole dried eggs.
It’s similar with the can Fish with Chicken and Beef Meat. Fish comes first in the name, but the composition reads “Meat from beef, poultry and fish and their animal by-products”. So fish is one of the three. The can is grain-free and is a complementary food to go with the kibble.
How to choose
All four kibble recipes have the same base, so choose by your dog:
- puppies, juniors and pregnant and nursing females: Fish Crunchies Puppy & Junior
- adult dogs of small and medium breeds, up to 35 kg: Fish Crunchies Small/Medium
- adult dogs of large and giant breeds: Fish Crunchies Adult Large Breed
- older dogs, dogs with low activity and dogs that tend to put on weight: Fish Crunchies Senior & Light
The kibble is made in Italy, the can in Germany. If your vet has recommended a particular food, stick to their advice.