Forthglade Natural Wet Trays: Variety Pack and National Trust Range Reviewed
PawPicked is reader-supported: we may earn a commission from links on this page.
Forthglade wet trays suit owners who want a single-protein, short-ingredient-list wet food and are happy to feed from a tray rather than a tin or pouch. The key fact to hold on to is that both listings here describe meat as the bulk of the recipe, at 75 per cent, with a handful of vegetables and added minerals filling out the rest. That makes them simple to read, though not automatically right for every dog.
We have looked at two Amazon.co.uk listings: the Forthglade Complete Natural Wet Variety Pack and the Forthglade National Trust Wet Dog Food. Nothing here comes from feeding them to dogs, so every claim about digestion or "gentleness" is the brand's.
The variety pack: three flavours, 12 trays
The pack holds 12 trays of 395g: four turkey, four lamb and four duck. Each recipe is listed as 75 per cent of its named meat, followed by a single vegetable at 4 per cent (sweet potato with the turkey, butternut squash with the lamb, potato with the duck), then carrots and peas at 2 per cent each, minerals, and linseed oil at 0.5 per cent. The listing gives analysis for the turkey recipe at 11 per cent crude protein, 7.5 per cent fat and 70 per cent moisture, and similar figures for lamb.
It is a sensible pack for a dog whose preferences you do not yet know, because you get three proteins in one purchase and can see which your dog eats happily. The flip side is that you cannot choose the split. If your dog dislikes duck, four trays are surplus. The listing shows 4.4 out of 5 from 4,745 ratings at the time of writing, which is a substantial sample.
The National Trust range: beef and wild boar
The second listing is a pack of seven 395g trays in a single recipe: beef at 48 per cent and wild boar at 27 per cent, with apple, parsnip and carrot, plus linseed oil and a herb blend. It also lists glucosamine and chondroitin at 50mg per kg each, which are small amounts, so treat them as a note rather than a feature.
The listing says that buying it helps the National Trust care for its places, and that it was voted best wet dog food by Your Dog magazine, both statements from the seller. Its rating is lower and the sample smaller, 4.2 out of 5 from 63 ratings. For a dog that has done well on other proteins it adds variety; for a dog sensitive to beef it is simply the wrong tray, since beef is the largest ingredient.
Complete meal or topper
Both listings describe the food as complete for adult dogs, and the National Trust listing is explicit that it can be fed alone, added to Forthglade cold pressed dry food or used as a topper. If you use it as a topper, remember it still carries calories. Take some off the dry portion rather than simply adding on top. Our guide to mixing wet and dry food shows how, and our broader wet versus dry comparison explains when each format makes sense.
One inconsistency worth noting: the listings disagree on age. The variety pack says adult in its specifications, and the National Trust listing says both "all life stages" and, in its directions, adult dogs from one year. We would not use either for a puppy without checking the tray, and for a puppy, a puppy food is the usual advice.
Grain-free and "hypoallergenic": what the claims mean
Both listings call the food grain-free, and both use the word hypoallergenic. Those terms are not tightly defined for pet food. Grain-free describes what is left out; it does not show that a dog will tolerate the recipe. Real food allergy is normally confirmed by a vet-led elimination trial, not by choosing a product with the label. Our guide to what hypoallergenic dog food does and doesn't mean goes into this. The National Trust listing also says it takes four to eight weeks to see benefits, which is the maker's expectation and a reason to give any new food a fair, supervised trial.
Storage and practicalities
The listings do not give storage times after opening, so follow the instructions on the tray. As a general rule, most wet food is covered and kept in the fridge once opened and used within a short window, and a dog should not be left to graze on a bowl that has been out for hours. Allow for the fridge space: a 12-tray pack is a lot of 395g containers.
Check the current price on Amazon and divide the pack price by the number of days it lasts for your dog's size to compare it with dry food. Wet food usually costs more per day, particularly for large dogs.
What to be careful about
- Beef and wild boar are the main ingredients in the National Trust tray, so avoid it for dogs that cannot eat beef.
- A 395g tray is a large portion for a small dog, and leftovers need handling.
- The variety pack's flavour split is fixed.
- Both are limited-evidence products: the "gentle on tummies" language is marketing, not a clinical result.
- Introduce gradually; the National Trust listing suggests five days.
Our recommendation
The variety pack is the easier place to start for most dogs, since it spreads three proteins and has the bigger rating sample. The National Trust tray is a reasonable second purchase for a dog that likes beef and does not need to avoid it. Neither is a treatment for a health problem; if your dog has digestive trouble or suspected allergies, see your vet first.
Products in this article
Affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.