Royal Canin Maxi Joint Care Dry Dog Food26–44 kg adult weight · adult

Most joint support comes as a powder you sprinkle on top and forget about within a fortnight. This is a complete diet built around it, which is the version that actually gets given every day.

Hydrolysed collagen at 0.84% is the distinguishing ingredient — it isn't in any other product in this catalogue — alongside chondroitin from hydrolysed cartilage and green tea polyphenols at 2.5 g/kg, an unusually high dose aimed at the oxidative side of joint inflammation. Fibre runs at 6.3% with fat at 15%, because keeping a large arthritic dog lean does more for her comfort than any ingredient does. For adult dogs 26–44 kg.

• Joint Support
• Weight Management
• Complete Nutrition

Ingredients

Maize, dehydrated poultry protein, wheat, animal fats, vegetable fibres, vegetable protein isolate (L.I.P. — protein selected for its very high digestibility), maize flour, rice, hydrolysed animal proteins, maize gluten, beet pulp, fish oil, yeasts and parts thereof, minerals, soya oil, hydrolysed collagen (0.84%), marigold extract (source of lutein), hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin). Additives (per kg) — Nutritional additives: Vitamin A 16,500 IU · Vitamin D3 1,000 IU · E1 (Iron) 42 mg · E2 (Iodine) 4.2 mg · E4 (Copper) 13 mg · E5 (Manganese) 55 mg · E6 (Zinc) 141 mg · E8 (Selenium) 0.08 mg. Technological additives: Clinoptilolite of sedimentary origin 10 g. Sensory additives: green tea extract (source of polyphenols) 2.5 g. Preservatives. Antioxidants.

Looking after it

Store in a cool, dry place, sealed. Use within six weeks; decant the 10 kg. Give it eight to twelve weeks before judging — joint nutrition is slow. Keep her lean above everything else; weight loss is the single most effective intervention for canine arthritis and it beats any ingredient. Short frequent walks, a supportive bed off a cold floor, non-slip mats on tiles, and a ramp into the car. Speak to your vet about pain relief if she's struggling; this supports joints, it doesn't treat pain.