Caboodle Superfood Small Breed Dry Food: Scottish Salmon review

Both flavours earn our Excellent band, a step clear of the Good band the typical adult dry food manages. They get there slightly differently: the beef on the strength of its protein conversion and low ash, the salmon on an even showing with every animal entry named to species. There is no wrong choice between them, so go with whichever animal suits your dog best.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Salmon (35% Freshly Prepared Salmon, 23% Dried Salmon, 4% Salmon Oil & 3% Salmon Stock), Sweet Potato, Beans, Beet Pulp, Dried Superfood Blend* (Including Dill, Spinach, Fennel, Asparagus, Tomato), Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Vitamins, Fructooligosaccharides (192 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (48 mg/kg), Olive Extract (0 01%).

The 65% animal declaration is built the same way in both flavours: 35% freshly prepared meat with a dried share behind it, 25% dried beef in one and 23% dried salmon in the other. That dried share carries a lot of the weight, because fresh meat is mostly water that cooks away. Protein converts to 41.3% of dry matter in the beef, 34.8% in the salmon.

Estimated carbohydrate comes out at 29.9% and 36.4% of dry matter respectively, both sitting under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. There is no grain in either recipe. Sweet potato and beans hold it together, with beet pulp for a gentle fibre.

Each flavour finishes with a dried superfood blend, carrot and green beans in the beef, dill and spinach in the salmon; the beef label puts each entry at the equivalent of 4% fresh produce. These are honest inclusions at honest weights, though the meat is what does the heavy lifting.

Prebiotics are dosed in print in both flavours, and the beef adds the joint trio, glucosamine and MSM at 178 mg/kg with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg, plus a higher zinc dose at 153 mg. The salmon keeps its animal content to fish from first entry to last, though the unnamed omega 3 supplement means neither label quite closes the loop for strict elimination purposes.

Every animal entry in Scottish Salmon is fish: fresh and dried salmon, then salmon oil and stock. Reach for this one if land meats are out. Its prebiotics run at 192 mg/kg and 48 mg/kg.

The Angus Beef is £9.67 a kilo and the Scottish Salmon £9.17, each in 2kg and 6kg bags.

Fed to a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, that translates to about £2.13 a day on the beef and £2.04 on the salmon. That figure assumes roughly 840 kcal a day, from the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75. Portions for a genuinely small dog will be far smaller, so scale down from there.