Ci Foods Ci You Big Baby: Salmon & Potato review

Ci You Big Baby lands in our Good band, the company the typical puppy kibble keeps, and it settles a shade under that middle mark. Protein and processing reads Average while nutritional balance reads Good and transparency Outstanding. That is a fair picture of a label that tells you plenty and builds on solid, unshowy parts. What holds the reading steady is the growth detail: a declared calcium figure landing where it should for big pups, and a supplement tail carrying doses instead of names alone.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon 36% (Including Freshly Prepared Salmon 22%, Dried Salmon 13%, Salmon Gravy 1%), Potato (22%), Barley, Oats, Chicken Fat, Potato Protein, Peas, Beet Pulp (2%), Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Vitamins, Glucosamine (355 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (355 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (250 mg/kg)

Salmon at 36% is broken out properly, which is far more useful than a single headline: 22% freshly prepared salmon, 13% dried salmon and 1% salmon gravy. The fresh portion still carries its water, while the dried 13% has already given its up. That smaller figure therefore counts for more in the kibble than it looks like it should. Protein lands at 27.0% as fed, or 29.3% once the moisture comes out.

The starch side is headed by potato at 22%, and barley and oats follow it with peas further down. Carbohydrate converts to an estimated 45.7% of dry matter against the 39.0% typical of puppy kibble, so this is a recipe leaning on its grains and roots to carry the calories. Beet pulp at 2% adds a gentle and well-tolerated fibre, and the fibre reading of 2.5% keeps things easy on a young gut.

Two entries deserve an allergy-minded owner's attention. Chicken fat puts a second bird into a recipe that is otherwise entirely salmon. Potato protein is there to top up the protein total, and it comes from a plant. Neither will trouble a pup with a simple preference for fish, but a genuine exclusion diet needs both read carefully.

Calcium is declared and converts to 1.2% of dry matter. For a pup that will finish large or giant, no figure works harder. A big-breed owner wants it printed and inside the range, and here it is. Ash sits at 5.5%, or 6.0% of dry matter, a moderate mineral load and not a heavy one.

The supplement tail is properly dosed, with glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane at 355 mg/kg each and chondroitin sulphate at 250 mg/kg behind them. An omega 3 supplement names no species. The vitamin panel is written out in full: vitamin A at 14,400 IU, vitamin D3 at 1,925 IU and vitamin E at 95 IU per kilo. Iron and zinc follow at 50 mg each, with manganese at 35 mg and iodine at 1 mg.

£3.83 a kilo, sold as a 2kg trial bag, a 4 x 2kg pack and a 12kg sack.

A growing dog has no fixed daily amount, because the right portion moves with age and with how big the pup is going to finish. At the smallest end the label's table asks 35g a day, rising to 525g at the top. Start where your pup sits today, move along the chart as they grow and trim to condition.