Calibra

Calibra Life Fresh Beef Adult Small review

Name: Calibra Calibra Life Fresh Beef Adult Small
Brand: Calibra

70.1/100Excellent

DryAdult

Calibra Life Fresh Beef Adult Small shrinks a fully named beef recipe down to little-dog scale. Beef protein at 28% and fresh beef at 26% top the list, rice and beef fat follow, and every animal on the label is identified by species. It earns its place in our Excellent band.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer pricing is coming soon. Once we have prices from UK retailers, the best price, cost per day and where to buy will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Your smallest family member deserves a label you can read without guesswork, and this one obliges.

Small breed adults burning energy fast, with protein at 28% and fat at 15% keeping compact bodies fuelled
Dogs that need to steer around chicken, which is absent from the recipe in any form
Owners who want every animal in the bag identified, the named beef fat included
Nervous switchers, since a 100g pack lets a small dog cast a vote before the big bag arrives

Worth watching

File away a few label notes before you pour the first bowl.

Beef leads but salmon oil and egg shells travel with it, so single-protein purists should know the whole cast
Rice at 25% means grain is part of the plan here
It is an energy-rich recipe for small frames, so portion drift shows quickly on a little waistline

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

70.1/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The Details

Dog fit

Your smallest family member deserves a label you can read without guesswork, and this one obliges. File away a few label notes before you pour the first bowl.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Beef

The score, in context

This recipe finishes in our Excellent band. Measured against the typical adult dry food, which comes in at Good, that is a clear step up, earned by naming every species, keeping the meat share genuinely high and dosing the extras in print. Protein and processing reads Good, nutritional balance alongside it, transparency Outstanding and value Excellent.

What's in it

Ingredients, as declared: beef protein (28 %), fresh beef (26 %), rice (25 %), beef fat (preserved with tocopherols, 8 %), dried apple pulp, (7 %), hydrolysed yeasts (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), egg shells (a source of calcium, 1 %), pea flour, dried blackcurrant (0.2 %), mannan-oligosaccharides (120 mg/kg), dried rosemary (100 mg/kg), dried thyme (100 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (70 mg/kg), inactivated bacteria and parts thereof (Lactobacillus helveticus HA - 122, 15 x 109 cells/kg).

Named ingredients

Beef protein (28 %), fresh beef (26 %), rice (25 %), beef fat (preserved with tocopherols, 8 %), dried apple pulp, (7 %), hydrolysed yeasts (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), egg shells (a source of calcium, 1 %), pea flour, dried blackcurrant (0.2 %), mannan-oligosaccharides (120 mg/kg), dried rosemary (100 mg/kg), dried thyme (100 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (70 mg/kg), inactivated bacteria and parts thereof (Lactobacillus helveticus HA - 122, 15 x 109 cells/kg).

Nutritional additives

| Additive | per 1 kg | |---|---| | vitamin A (3a672a) | 16,500 IU | | vitamin D3 (3a671) | 1,650 IU | | vitamin E (3a700) | 300 mg | | vitamin C (3a312) | 250 mg | | vitamin B1 (3a820) | 4.8 mg | | vitamin B2 (3a825i) | 6 mg | | niacinamide (3a315) | 23 mg | | calcium pantothenate (3a841) | 12 mg | | vitamin B6 (3a831) | 4.8 mg | | folic acid (3a316) | 0.6 mg | | vitamin B12 | 0.05 mg | | biotin (3a880) | 0.65 mg | | choline chloride (3a890) | 480 mg | | organic zinc (3b606) | 90 mg | | organic iron (3b106) | 75 mg | | organic manganese (3b504) | 30 mg | | organic copper (3b406) | 14 mg | | iodine (3b201) | 0.7 mg | | organic selenium (3b810) | 0.17 mg | - **Antioxidants:** tocopherol extracts from vegetable oil (1b306(i)), ascorbyl palmitate (1b304) & rosemary extract.

Ingredient notes

Beef protein at 28% and fresh beef at 26% are declared separately, which lets you see the recipe honestly: the concentrated form provides the protein backbone while the fresh share does the tempting. The finished figure converts to 30.8% protein on a dry matter basis, generous for a maintenance food.

Rice at 25% carries the starch with pea flour behind it, and the carbohydrate estimate converts to 43.2% of dry matter, below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Beef fat at 8% keeps the energy on the same animal as the protein. Salmon oil at 2% takes care of the omega 3s, and egg shells at 1% put calcium at 1.21% of dry matter.

Dried apple pulp at 7% brings gentle fibre and dried blackcurrant a trace of antioxidant colour at 0.2%. Hydrolysed yeasts at 2% season the kibble naturally. No joint supplement features in this small breed edition, a reasonable call given the loads small joints carry.

Prebiotics arrive with their doses printed, mannan-oligosaccharides at 120 mg/kg and fructo-oligosaccharides at 70 mg/kg, joined by an inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus culture and Mojave yucca at 80 mg/kg. The chelated trace minerals are all dosed in print too.

Price and value

£4.71 a kilo, sold in 100g, 1.5kg and 6kg packs.

Expect a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition to need close to 219 grams a day, about £1.03, taking 840 kcal as the standard maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75).

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

383 kcal/100g

Protein

28%

Fat

15%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

6.2%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

30.8%

Fat

16.5%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

6.8%

Carbs

43.2%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

56.3%

Carbs

26.5%

Veg

2.1%

Oils

4.7%

Other

10.5%

Pricing & size