Calibra Premium Line Adult Large review

Good, by our banding, and that is where the typical adult dry food lands too. Transparency reads Outstanding while protein and processing and value both read Good, with nutritional balance Average. That rings true, because the label declares most of its percentages and doses plainly while the recipe itself is conventional cereal and chicken fare.

Ingredients, as declared: chicken protein 36 %, corn, oats 16 %, poultry fat 5 %, 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).

Chicken protein at 36% is dried before it reaches the mix, so it carries its full weight into the finished kibble and delivers most of the 27.5% dry matter protein. It is the only named meat, with the caveat that the added fat comes from unspecified poultry.

Corn, share undeclared, and oats at 16% supply the starch. Estimated carbohydrate settles at 46.4% of dry matter, almost exactly the adult dry typical of 46.2%, so no surprises in the engine room.

The large breed thinking shows in the supplement row rather than the analysis. Glucosamine at 260 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 160 mg/kg are sensible inclusions for heavy frames, and Mojave yucca at 80 mg/kg is traditionally added with stool odour in mind.

Gut support comes from MOS at 150 mg/kg, FOS at 80 mg/kg and beta glucans at 40 mg/kg, with brewer's yeast adding B vitamins and hydrolysed chicken liver at 2% keeping the taste interesting. Carrots, peas, parsley and kelp at 0.4% round out the list in small amounts.

Fat at 15.4% of dry matter and 375 kcal per 100g give it a little more energy than the typical dry food's 357 kcal, worth remembering when the feeding chart meets a less active giant.

£2.33 a kilo, in 3kg and 12kg bags.

The standard maintenance estimate (about 840 kcal a day at 15kg, from 110 × bodyweight^0.75) prices a 15kg adult at roughly 224 grams and £0.52 a day. This food's real audience is bigger: the label feeds a 30kg dog 300 grams and a 60kg dog 500 grams daily.