Ci Foods Ci Happy Go Lightly: Turkey & Rice (Small Bite) review

Our bands keep this range together. All five varieties earn Good, the band that also holds the typical adult dry food. The differences are small: transparency reads Outstanding right across the five with value Good throughout, and nutritional balance reads Average on the standard turkey and its small bite twin against Poor on the other three. Nothing here reads as a red flag; this is a modest, honest build doing a specific low-calorie job.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 30% (Including Dried Turkey 22%, Freshly Prepared Turkey 4%, Turkey Fat 2% & Turkey Gravy (2%), White Rice (22%), Brown Rice (22%), Oats (19%), Linseed, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa, Minerals, Vitamins, Seaweed, Omega 3 Supplement, FOS (960 mg/kg), Chicory Extract (0.05%), Yucca Extract (190 mg/kg), Dandelion

Every variety leads with a named animal declared at between 26% and 34%, and the splits are printed. The Lamb & Rice, for instance, builds its 34% from 25% dried lamb, 4% freshly prepared lamb, 3% lamb fat and 2% gravy. In a kibble, leaning on the dried form makes sense. Dried meat has lost its water before it goes in, and its protein lands at full strength.

The starch side is generous, as you would expect from a light recipe. Rice appears in every variety, joined by barley in the fish and lamb versions and oats in the turkeys. Estimated carbohydrate runs from 53.2% to 58.8% of dry matter across the range, against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. That trade is deliberate: fat stays between 8% and 10% and energy between 342 and 353 kcal/100g, under the typical 357, which is exactly the arithmetic a weight-prone dog needs.

A consistent digestive toolkit runs through the range. Linseed brings plant omega 3s, beet pulp or peas the fibre, with alfalfa and seaweed alongside. FOS at 960 mg/kg is the prebiotic. Chicory extract follows, then yucca at 190 mg/kg with stool odour in mind and dandelion to finish.

The Senior variety earns its name in the small print. Glucosamine and MSM arrive at 178 mg/kg each, with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg and L-Carnitine at 50 mg to help an older metabolism make use of its fat stores.

One honesty note: the omega 3 supplement listed in the lamb and turkey varieties never names its source. Most owners will not mind. Where fish is off the menu altogether, only the maker can confirm what is in it. The Fish & Rice, for its part, keeps every animal ingredient fish.

The standard Turkey & Rice recipe pressed into a smaller kibble for small jaws, with a feeding table written for dogs up to 10kg rather than the full weight span.

Every variety is £4.00 a kilo, available as a 1.5kg bag, a 10kg sack, or bundles of four 1.5kg bags in matching or mixed flavours.

Depending on the variety, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through roughly 238 to 246 grams a day, at £0.95 to £0.98. That guide assumes about 840 kcal daily, the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75.