Calibra Verve Adult Cans: Pork & Venison review

The typical adult wet food already reaches our Excellent band, and these tins finish a band clear of that mark, which is a good result in a category that scores well to begin with. Protein and processing, nutritional balance and transparency all read Outstanding on every tin, with value reading Outstanding across the three.

What lifts them is straightforward: two named animals with printed percentages doing almost all the work, no cereal anywhere, and enough detail on the label to check the claim yourself. Carbohydrate estimates run between 9.5% and 11.3% of dry matter across the three, comfortably under the 15.8% typical for adult wet food, which is unusual and reflects how little plant material these recipes carry.

Ingredients, as declared: pork (44 %), venison (26 %), potato (4 %), carrots (4 %), vegetable derivatives (2.7 %), salmon oil (1.5 %), dried rose hip (0.5 %), dried sea buckthorn (0.5 %), dried chicory (0.3 %), dried rosemary (0.05 %), dried thyme (0.05 %).

The construction repeats across the range. A lead meat at 44%, a second animal at 26%, then two plant entries at 4% each. That is potato and carrots in the pork tin, carrots and sweet potatoes in the salmon, pumpkin and carrots in the wild boar. Nothing else on the list reaches 3%.

Once moisture is out of the way the analysis is properly rich. Protein converts to between 37.6% and 40.9% of dry matter and fat to between 36.4% and 44.8%, which is a lot of energy in a small tin. A busy dog or a dog that runs hot will do well on that, and for a dog that does neither the bowl is worth measuring carefully.

Salmon oil at 1.5% is a real dose of marine omega-3 for skin and coat, and it also puts fish on all three labels. The vitamin C flourish is dried rose hip and sea buckthorn, both at 0.5%. Chicory at 0.3% brings inulin as a prebiotic fibre. Rosemary and thyme at 0.05% each sit at the trace level, where rosemary usually earns its place by keeping the fats from turning.

Two additives deserve a mention. Taurine is added on purpose, an amino acid dogs normally make for themselves that is increasingly supplemented in support of heart health. Carob gum is the thickener that holds the loaf together in the tin. Calcium is declared and converts to between 1.36% and 1.43% of dry matter, a sound level for adult maintenance.

Pork at 44% with venison at 26%, plus potato and carrots at 4% each. A pairing few dogs will have met often, which makes this the tin to reach for when the familiar proteins have stopped working. Protein converts to 40.9% of dry matter, the highest of the three, with fat at 37.3% and energy at 114 kcal per 100g.

£7.12 a kilo, in 400g tins sold in packs of 6, with the same figure on all three flavours.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat between 728 and 766 grams a day, depending on the tin. That is about £5.18 to £5.45, taking around 840 kcal a day as the maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75).