Caboodle Superfood Adult Dry Food: British Grass-Fed Lamb review

The four flavours sit closer together on our bands than the differences in their analyses suggest. All four reach our Excellent band, a step clear of the Good band the typical adult dry food occupies, with Angus Beef at the front and British Grass-Fed Lamb bringing up the rear. The construction is the same each time; what moves is the analysis. The beef and salmon post the strongest protein conversions, while the lamb pairs the gentlest protein in the range with its heaviest mineral load. Whichever of the four you pick, you are getting a genuinely well built kibble.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Lamb (Freshly Prepared Lamb (35%), Dried Lamb (22%), Lamb Fat (5%), Lamb Gravy (3%)), Sweet Potato, Beans, Beet Pulp, Dried Superfood Blend* (including Mint, Pomegranate, Mulberry, Broccoli, Fennel), Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Fructooligosaccharides (175 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (50 mg/kg), Olive Extract (0.01%)

Each flavour builds its 65% animal share the same way: a 35% fresh portion, a dried share of between 22% and 25%, and a little fat, stock or gravy from the same species. Fresh meat is mostly water, and most of that water leaves in the oven, so much of the protein work falls to the dried portion. The finished figures land well. Protein converts to between 29.9% and 41.3% of dry matter across the range, and estimated carbohydrate to between 29.9% and 38.6%, against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Starch duty falls to sweet potato and beans, and beet pulp adds a gentle fibre. Grain does not appear in any of the four recipes.

The dried superfood blend changes with the flavour: carrot and cauliflower with the beef, mint and pomegranate with the lamb, parsnip and beetroot with the duck, dill and spinach with the salmon. Where the label spells it out, each blend entry is the equivalent of 4% fresh produce, so these are genuine inclusions and not decoration. The animal content is still what the range stands on.

Prebiotic fructooligosaccharides and mannanoligosaccharides come at printed doses in every flavour, 175 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg in the meat recipes and 192 mg/kg and 48 mg/kg in the salmon. Both feed the gut's friendly bacteria. The Angus Beef alone adds the joint trio: glucosamine and MSM at 178 mg/kg each with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg.

The ash figures tell the range's most useful story. The beef sits at a restrained 6.5% with calcium at 1.2% of dry matter, while the lamb reaches 12% ash with calcium at 2.61% and the duck 9.5% with calcium at 2.39%. Higher ash usually points to more bone in the dried meat, no worry for a healthy adult, but worth knowing if your dog needs a leaner mineral intake.

Trace minerals are dosed in print on every label. The unnamed omega 3 supplement is the one opacity in an otherwise talkative ingredients list; it earns its place, but it stops any flavour from pinning the entire recipe to a single named source.

Lamb throughout the animal share, with a 3% lamb gravy in place of stock. It declares the gentlest protein of the four, and its 12% ash and 2.61% dry-matter calcium are the highest in the range, which is what keeps it a little behind its stablemates on our scale.

The beef, duck and salmon flavours are £7.83 a kilo, with the lamb at £8.00. Every flavour comes in 2kg and 6kg bags.

For a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, expect roughly 220 to 233 grams a day depending on flavour, which works out at £1.72 to £1.86 daily. That assumes around 840 kcal a day, from 110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate.