Calibra Premium Line Adult Cans: Beef review

The shared middle ground of the adult dry market is our Good band, and this recipe sits squarely in it alongside the typical food. It reads Average on protein and processing, Good on nutritional balance and value, and Outstanding on transparency, which describes it fairly: nothing done badly, and a great deal set out plainly.

Ingredients, as declared: beef protein 30 %, corn, oats 22 %, poultry fat 6 %, dried apple pulp 3 %, brewer's yeast, hydrolysed chicken liver 2 %, salmon oil 1 %, carrots 1 %, peas 1 %, dried parsley 0.5 %, dried kelp 0.4 % (Ascophyllum nodosum), glucosamine (260 mg/kg), chondroitine sulphate (160 mg/kg), mannan-oligosaccharides (150 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (80 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), β-glucans (40 mg/kg).

Dried beef protein at 30% gives the kibble a genuine meat backbone, and because it goes in already dried, the 28.6% protein in dry matter owes most of itself to that single entry.

The cereal base is split between corn, listed second with no percentage attached, and oats at 22%. Estimated carbohydrate finishes at 47.0% of dry matter, a whisker above the adult dry typical of 46.2%. An undeclared corn share is the label's least transparent moment, though a common habit on simpler labels.

Fat is the livelier part of the analysis at 16.5% of dry matter, from poultry fat at 6% plus salmon oil at 1%, taking energy to 386 kcal per 100g. Active dogs will use it; quieter ones need the scoop watched.

The extras are modest but real: carrots and peas at 1% each, dried kelp at 0.4% as a natural iodine source, parsley at 0.5% and brewer's yeast for B vitamins. There is also a dosed joint pair, glucosamine at 260 mg/kg with chondroitin sulphate at 160 mg/kg. MOS at 150 mg/kg, FOS at 80 mg/kg and beta glucans at 40 mg/kg cover gut support.

Hydrolysed chicken liver at 2% gives the kibble a taste worth eating, a standard trick that works. It does put chicken on the list of a beef food, which is the one line worth remembering if poultry is a problem in your house.

£2.81 a kilo, sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

Using the standard estimate of about 840 kcal a day for a 15kg adult in moderate condition (110 × bodyweight^0.75), daily feeding comes to roughly 217 grams, about £0.61. The printed chart gives 160 grams for the same weight. Begin somewhere in between and let your own dog settle it.