Cobbydog Immunity Impact Cold Pressed: Duck Dinner review

Our Outstanding band holds the Duck Dinner and our Excellent band the Fish Supper, both standing above the Good band the cold-pressed field reaches on average. For a pressed pellet that is a solid place to be. Cold pressing tends to score well with us for the same two reasons it does here. The meat or fish share is genuine and not decorative, and the label puts figures against the things that matter.

Transparency reads Outstanding on both, helped on the Fish Supper with Plasma by a fish declaration broken down species by species. Protein and processing reads Excellent on the Duck Dinner and Good on the fish. Carbohydrate is what stops either of them climbing further, since a pressed pellet needs a starch to hold its shape. At 38.9% and 37.8% of dry matter both still sit below the level the typical cold-pressed food carries. The unnamed plasma source is the one place where the labelling stops short of the standard the rest of the page sets.

Ingredients, as declared: Dried Ground Duck 49%, Sweet Potato 32%, Beet Pulp 5%, Peas, Plasma 5%, Linseed Oil 1.7%, Rapeseed Oil 1.7% Vitamin & Minerals, TurmerAid™ (0.6%) (Turmeric, Linseed Oil, Black Pepper, Yucca, Apple Cider Vinegar), Dried Vegetables (Carrot and Chicory), Dried Fruit (Apple), Seaweed, Fennel, Nettle, Dried Herbs (Sage, Thyme, Oregano).

Plasma is the ingredient that separates this range from the standard Cobbydog pellet. It is made by drying the liquid fraction of animal blood once the cells are removed. Feed makers want it for the immunoglobulins and the other working proteins it carries, and that is why weaning and recovery diets use it. Cobbydog puts it at 5%, a meaningful share, and gives it top billing in the range name.

The one thing neither label settles is which animal the plasma comes from. The Fish Supper calls it a natural animal protein source, the Duck Dinner simply calls it plasma, and no species is attached in either case. For most dogs that is an academic point. For a dog on a genuine exclusion diet it matters, because neither recipe can honestly be described as single species however clean the rest of the list looks.

The headline animals are handled well. The Duck Dinner is dried ground duck at 49%, and no other meat appears anywhere on the list. The Fish Supper breaks its 48% ocean fish into white fish at 38.4%, salmon at 4.8%, mackerel at 2.4% and herring at 2.4%, which is a level of detail few fish recipes bother with.

Sweet potato at 32% carries the carbohydrate in both, with peas and beet pulp at 5% each behind it. Beet pulp is a gentle fermentable fibre that suits the stool of a dog moving onto a new food, and peas bring plant protein and a spread of minerals. Carbohydrate lands at 38.9% of dry matter on the duck label and 37.8% on the fish, both under the 43.2% typical for cold-pressed food.

The fats are chosen with care. The Duck Dinner pairs linseed oil at 1.7% with rapeseed oil at 1.7%, the linseed bringing plant omega 3 and the rapeseed a light everyday fat. In the fish recipe the linseed gives way to fish oil at 1.7%. Fish oil is the stronger source of long chain omega 3, and the rapeseed here is specified as cold pressed.

Micronutrition is declared properly, dose by dose. Vitamin E at 50 iu, vitamin B12 at 40 mcg, zinc at 100 mg, manganese at 80 mg and iron at 30 mg are among the printed entries. The fish recipe also states chelated minerals at 1.25%, a form that is generally absorbed more readily than plain mineral salts. Calcium is printed on the Duck Dinner at 1.64% of dry matter and left off the fish label. TurmerAid at 0.6%, seaweed, fennel, nettle and the herb tail sit at seasoning level.

Duck at 49% leads, and it is the one meat this label names, with sweet potato at 32%, beet pulp at 5% and plasma at 5%. Linseed oil and rapeseed oil at 1.7% each provide the fat, which makes it the fish free option of the pair, and calcium is declared at 1.64% of dry matter. Protein converts to 37.1% of dry matter, fat to 10.4%, at 370 kcal per 100g.

The Duck Dinner is £6.59 a kilo and the Fish Supper with Plasma £6.38. Both come in 3kg, 5kg and 10kg bags.

Taking the standard maintenance estimate for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), both recipes feed at roughly 227 grams a day. That is £1.50 on the duck and £1.45 on the fish. Cobbydog's label guide for a 10 to 20kg dog is 120 to 240 grams a day.