Calibra

Calibra Verve Senior Cans review

Name: Calibra Calibra Verve Senior Cans
Brand: Calibra

80/100Outstanding

WetAdultSenior

Calibra Verve Senior takes the same turkey and lamb pairing the brand uses elsewhere, 44% and 26% on the label, and trims the fat back for an older dog. Carrot and parsnip do the vegetable work, chicory brings a little prebiotic fibre, and rose hip and sea buckthorn finish the list. Protein and processing, nutritional balance, transparency and value all read Outstanding, and the can sits in our Outstanding 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

As your dog gets older the appetite for rich food usually goes before the appetite for dinner does, and this can is built around that.

Senior dogs easing off the rich stuff, since fat converts to 22.7% of dry matter where the brand's growth can runs far higher
Older dogs whose teeth are past their best, a soft loaf being far kinder to eat than anything that needs work
Owners who want a label with almost nothing hidden in it, since every meaningful entry carries its own printed percentage
Dogs that need help staying hydrated, as moisture is declared at 78.0% of the can
Households that keep grain out of the bowl, because carrot and parsnip carry the vegetable side and no cereal appears

Worth watching

There are a few things on this label to take in before you switch an older dog onto it.

Turkey and lamb share the can and salmon oil adds fish, so a dog on a strict avoidance list has three animals to account for
The carrot and parsnip lift the estimated carbohydrate to 22.7% of dry matter, above the 15.8% usual for an adult wet food
Just one line stays vague, the vegetable derivatives at 2.7%
Only the 400g can is made, so a small senior dog will be covering and chilling the remainder between meals

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

How this scores

How we score

80/100Outstanding

Protein and processingOutstanding

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueOutstanding

The Details

Dog fit

As your dog gets older the appetite for rich food usually goes before the appetite for dinner does, and this can is built around that. There are a few things on this label to take in before you switch an older dog onto it.

Food type

Wet

Life stage

Adult, Senior

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Lamb

The score, in context

All four of our readings come back Outstanding here, and that combination is what carries the can into the top band on our scale. Wet food does well on our scoring generally, so a typical adult wet tin is already an Excellent band food. This one steps past that middle mark onto the rung above.

What's in it

Ingredients, as declared: turkey (44 %), lamb (26 %), carrots (4 %), parsnip (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 %).

Named ingredients

Turkey (44 %), lamb (26 %), carrots (4 %), parsnip (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 %).

Nutritional additives

| Additive | per 1 kg | |---|---| | vitamin A (3a672a) 1,000 IU vitamin D3 (3a671) 250 IUvitamin E (3a700) | 150 mg | | zinc (3b606) | 12.5 mg | | iron (3b106) | 10 mg | | manganese (3b504) | 3 mg | | potassium iodide (3b201) | 0.75 mg | | copper (3b406) | 4 mg | | taurine (3a370) | 1,000 mg | | carob gum (E 410) | 5,000 mg |

Ingredient notes

Turkey at 44% and lamb at 26% open the list and carry the recipe. The analysis follows them: protein converts to 43.2% of dry matter, a genuinely meat-forward figure, while fat is held to 22.7%. That gap between the two is the whole point of a senior recipe, plenty of protein for muscle with the richness pulled back.

The vegetable side is carrots and parsnip at 4% each. Dried chicory at 0.3% brings inulin, a soluble fibre the gut's own bacteria live on. Between them the estimated carbohydrate comes to 22.7% of dry matter against the 15.8% a typical adult wet food shows. That figure is an estimate, worked out by difference. On wet recipes the method tends to overstate. Read it as the top of the range.

Rose hip and sea buckthorn come in at 0.5% each, with rosemary and thyme at 0.05%, a pleasant little tail to the list. Salmon oil at 1.5% closes the list and brings the can its marine omega-3. Only the 2.7% vegetable derivatives entry declines to say what it is, and at that share it changes little.

Taurine appears on the additive panel at a proper working dose rather than a token, which older hearts are the usual reason for, and carob gum is what holds the loaf together. The rest of the panel is a short, dosed list of vitamins and trace minerals, and calcium converts to 1.36% of dry matter.

Price and value

The cans are 400g, packed in sixes, and the food works out at £7.12 a kilo.

Taking maintenance at about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard estimate), a 15kg adult in moderate condition comes to around £5.77 a day, or about 811 grams of food. Older dogs in light work often need rather less than that.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

103.6 kcal/100g

Protein

9.5%

Fat

Fibre

0.5%

Ash

Moisture

78%

Dry weight

Protein

43.2%

Fat

22.7%

Fibre

2.3%

Ash

9.1%

Carbs

22.7%

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

75.5%

Added water

9.8%

Carbs

2.9%

Veg

Oils

1.6%

Other

1.2%

Pricing & size