Dr Veneta Freeze-Dried Stay Calm review

Freeze dried food is formidable company, and the typical label in that field lands in our Outstanding band. Stay Calm sits in the band as well, a whisker above the middle of the field, and in a category this strong that is a fine place to be standing. Protein and processing, nutritional balance, transparency and value all come back Outstanding, so nothing about the result leans on one generous number.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey (75.2%), Apple (10%), Turkey Liver (5%), Pear (5%), Strawberry (2%), Beet pulp, Seaweed, Fermented Saccharomyces cerevisiae (as a source of prebiotic MOS and beta glucans), Marine Collagen, Chicory root (as a source of prebiotic FOS), Glucosamine, Chondroitin sulphate, Yucca, Dandelion root, Green tea, Hawthorn leaf, Nettle, Rosehip, Parsley, Chamomile, Lemon Balm.

Freeze drying means freezing the food and then drawing the ice off as vapour, which leaves the structure and most of the character of the raw ingredient behind. What survives here is 1.4% moisture, so nearly every gram is food. That is why the analysis reads so richly, protein at 45.0% and fat at 34.8% as fed, and why the dry matter figures barely move from them.

The muscle meat is all turkey, at 75.2%, and turkey liver at 5% adds the organ share. Liver is about as nutrient dense as food gets, generous in B12, vitamin A and copper. At 5% it is a real inclusion, well past a sprinkle for the ingredient panel. Marine collagen also turns up further down the list, and that is animal protein from the sea, so the recipe is turkey led rather than turkey alone.

The fruit is unusual for a dog food and clearly meant: apple at 10%, pear at 5% and strawberry at 2%, three sweet, fibrous additions that explain part of the 8.3% dry matter carbohydrate estimate. Nothing starchy appears at any point, no grain, no potato and no pulse, which is why that figure stays where it does.

The functional tail is where the label puts its effort. Fermented Saccharomyces cerevisiae is declared as a source of prebiotic MOS and beta glucans, chicory root brings prebiotic FOS, and the two encourage the large intestine's own bacteria from different directions. Beet pulp gives that population something to ferment. Seaweed carries iodine along with a spread of trace minerals. Glucosamine and chondroitin sit behind them with joints in mind.

The herbs are the part the name is actually about. Dandelion root, green tea, hawthorn leaf, nettle, rosehip, parsley, chamomile and lemon balm finish the list. Green tea is there for the catechins it is known for, and the rest come from the traditional soothing corner of the garden. None of them carries a figure, and neither does anything after the strawberry, which is the one place an otherwise open label goes quiet.

No additives panel is published for this food at all, and no synthetic vitamin or mineral premix is declared anywhere on the page. That is unusual for a food fed as a full diet, and it is worth understanding. With no premix in it, the recipe leans on the liver, on the seaweed and on the fruit to do that work. If your dog is going to eat this and nothing else for the long run, ask the maker how the numbers are met.

£29.90 a kilo, in 125g and 500g packs, and also inside the 625g Discover Set and the 2.5kg Wellness Set.

Freeze dried food feeds in small amounts, about 166 grams a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, which comes to roughly £4.97 a day. That works from around 840 kcal a day, using the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75.