Clinivet Grain Free Sensitive review

The verdict here is Good, the same band a typical adult dry food manages. The declared fish share, the honest itemising and the properly dosed extras pull it up. A fair helping of tapioca and a protein level that is solid without being striking keep it short of the bands above.

Ingredients, as declared: 42% Fish (White Fishmeal 20.5%, Fresh White Fish 19%, Fish Stock 2.5%), Tapioca (20%), Sweet Potato (18.5%), Beet Pulp (6%), Chicken Fat, Brewers Yeast, Salmon Oil, Minerals, Pre-biotic Fructooligosaccharide (1600mg/kg), Beta-glucans, Pre-biotic Mannanoligosaccharides (400mg/kg), Yucca Extract (200mg/kg), Glucosamine (200mg/kg), Chondrotin (150mg/kg), Cranberry Extract, Green Tea Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Rosemary Extract.

White fish leads at a declared 42%, and the split matters. Fishmeal at 20.5% arrives already dried, so it delivers its protein at full strength, while the 19% fresh fish mostly contributes flavour once its water has cooked away. Protein settles at 26.1% of dry matter, a moderate level that suits a food built for delicate stomachs.

Tapioca at 20% and sweet potato at 18.5% are the grain replacements. Tapioca is nearly pure starch, easy to digest but bringing little else to the bowl, which is exactly why gentle recipes reach for it. Estimated carbohydrate lands at 47.9% of dry matter, slightly above the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

The digestive support is dosed rather than gestured at: FOS at 1600mg/kg with beta-glucans behind it, MOS at 400mg/kg and yucca at 200mg/kg. A joint pair rides along too, glucosamine at 200mg/kg and chondroitin at 150mg/kg.

Chicken fat is the quiet complication. Fat carries far less protein than meat does, so most sensitive dogs will be fine, but a true poultry allergy can be triggered by traces, and a formal elimination trial needs a recipe without it. Salmon oil keeps the omega 3s marine.

The mineral work is the upgraded kind: zinc, manganese and copper all arrive chelated, and the selenium is inactivated selenium yeast, the organic form. Vitamin E at 200IU is a healthy antioxidant level, and mixed tocopherols do the preserving.

£3.43 for each kilo, in a 2kg bag and a 12kg bag, plus a 14kg trade size for breeders.

Day to day, a 15kg adult in moderate shape would need roughly 247 grams, which comes to about £0.85, working from the standard maintenance estimate of 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75).