Calibra Expert Nutrition Oral Care review

On our scale this recipe reads Good, and the typical adult dry food finishes in that same band, so the dental extras are riding on a base that already holds its own. Its transparency pillar reads Outstanding, with protein and processing and nutritional balance both coming in at Good.

Ingredients, as declared: chicken protein (40 %), rice (26 %), poultry fat (8 %, preserved with tocopherols), brewer's rice (7 %), apple pulp dried (5 %), hydrolysed poultry protein (5 %), yeasts, hydrolysed chicken liver (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum, 1 %), fulvic acid (0.2 %), sodium hexametaphosphate (1,000 mg/kg), prebiotics (mannan-oligosaccharides 120 mg/kg, β-glucans 100 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides 70 mg/kg), dried rosemary & thyme (200 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), Lactobacillus acidophilus HA - 122 inactivated (15 × 109 cells/kg).

Chicken protein at 40% is a concentrated dried ingredient, so the declared share survives the oven intact. Protein on the finished food converts to 29.7% of dry matter, a healthy level for an adult maintenance recipe.

Rice at 26% with brewer's rice at 7% behind it does the binding. The carbohydrate estimate converts to 45.1% of dry matter, sitting just under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

The dental case rests on two ingredients. Sodium hexametaphosphate, included at a full gram per kilo of food, works chemically by tying up the minerals that would otherwise cement plaque into tartar. It is regarded as safe at the levels used in food. Kelp, the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, is included at a meaningful 1% and has long been fed for cleaner mouths. Neither replaces mechanical cleaning, but both work every time the dog eats, which a toothbrush rarely manages.

The supporting cast is thoughtful. Dried apple pulp at 5% gives gentle fibre, the prebiotics are dosed at 120 mg/kg of mannan-oligosaccharides, 100 mg/kg of beta-glucans and 70 mg/kg of fructo-oligosaccharides, and an inactivated Lactobacillus strain sits alongside them. Mojave yucca at 80 mg/kg is the traditional answer to room-clearing wind.

The omega 3s come in on salmon oil at 2%. Chelated trace minerals close the list with every dose printed, the format we like to see on a label.

Sold at £5.60 a kilo in 2kg and 7kg bags.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs around 217 grams a day at a cost of about £1.22, working from the usual maintenance estimate of 840 kcal daily (110 × bodyweight^0.75). Check the result against the label's own feeding table.