Calibra Life Adult Small Breed: Lamb review

Both flavours score into our Good band, level with the typical adult dry food and sitting at the upper end of it, with their protein levels doing much of the earning.

Ingredients, as declared: lamb protein (40 %), rice (28 %), poultry fat (11 %, preserved with tocopherols), brewer´s rice (10 %), apple pulp dried (3 %), yeasts, hydrolysed chicken liver (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), 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).

The meat leads in concentrated protein form, which holds its declared percentage through the oven. In the chicken that reads 42% and in the lamb 40%, and finished protein converts to 31.9% and 29.7% of dry matter respectively, generous levels for small bodies doing big mileage.

Rice and brewer's rice do the binding. The carbohydrate estimate converts to 39.0% of dry matter in the chicken, with the lamb at 41.2%, both usefully below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Poultry fat at 11% is the energy source and the reason both flavours run rich. It is not named to a bird, which only matters for strict avoidance feeding. Salmon oil at 2% brings the omega 3s.

Hydrolysed chicken liver at 2% is there for taste, and it works, which is precisely why the lamb flavour cannot claim to be chicken free. Dried apple pulp adds gentle fibre.

Prebiotics are dosed on the label, mannan-oligosaccharides at 120 mg/kg, beta-glucans at 100 mg/kg and fructo-oligosaccharides at 70 mg/kg, with an inactivated Lactobacillus strain alongside, and the trace minerals come chelated with every dose printed. There is no added joint pair in this recipe, a defensible call for lighter frames.

Lamb protein at 40% with rice at 28% behind it. Choose it for variety or preference rather than avoidance, since chicken liver and poultry fat remain in the recipe.

Chicken is £4.50 a kilo and lamb £5.19, sold in 100g, 1.5kg and 6kg packs.

As a working figure, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would use about 215 grams a day, costing £0.97 on the chicken or £1.12 on the lamb. The basis is the standard 840 kcal maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75).