Brit Care Mini Grain Free Hair & Skin review

This recipe climbs into our Excellent band; the typical adult dry food goes no further than our Good band. Fish named three ways at a high combined share, a modest carbohydrate load and a genuinely coherent skin-and-coat build are what carry it up.

Ingredients, as declared: Dried salmon (25%), fresh salmon protein (16%), dried herring (14%), yellow pea, chicken fat (preserved with tocopherols), chickpeas, linseed (4%), salmon oil (3%), buckwheat, evening primrose oil (1%), dried apples, brewer's yeast, algae (0.5%, Ascophyllum nodosum), hydrolyzed crustacean shells (a source of glucosamine, 260 mg/kg), blueberries (230 mg/kg, source of polyphenols 70 mg/kg & flavonoids 30 mg/kg), cartilage extract (a source of chondroitin, 160 mg/kg), mannan-oligosaccharides (150 mg/kg), herbs & fruits (rosemary, cloves, citrus, curcuma, 150 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (100 mg/kg), yucca schidigera (100 mg/kg), inulin (90 mg/kg), milk thistle (75 mg/kg), sea buckthorn (75 mg/kg), chamomile (30 mg/kg), cloves (30 mg/kg), sage (25 mg/kg)

The fish maths hold up under scrutiny. Dried salmon at 25% and dried herring at 14% are concentrated, water-free forms, fresh salmon protein at 16% adds palatability, and together the three declare 55% of the recipe. Protein converts to a strong 35.6% of dry matter while estimated carbohydrate stays down at 33.1%, comfortably under the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

The coat case is properly layered. Salmon oil at 3% carries the marine omega 3s that skin uses most directly, and the plant form comes from linseed at 4%. Evening primrose oil at 1% brings gamma-linolenic acid, a fatty acid often reached for when skin is irritated. Behind the oils, biotin at 3 mg and zinc at 100 mg per kilo are the two micronutrients coats depend on hardest, both dosed in print.

Yellow pea, chickpeas and buckwheat carry the starch, keeping the recipe grain free without resorting to white potato.

One quiet compromise: the energy fat is chicken fat rather than more fish oil, which keeps the recipe practical and suits most dogs, but stops the label being strictly poultry free. The cartilage extract further down also names no species.

The label spans puppy to senior for small breeds, and calcium at 1.44% of dry matter sits comfortably for that whole span. Blueberries, kelp and the mg/kg herb tail add polish at trace levels.

The kilo price is £5.71, and the bags come in 0.4kg, 2kg and 7kg sizes.

Portioned for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, expect roughly 216 grams and £1.24 each day, taking about 840 kcal a day as the assumption (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). A real small breed eats a fraction of that; the bag's table tops out at 120 grams for a 10kg dog.