Hill's Prescription Diet Metabolic Mini Dog Food review

Ingredients, as declared: Cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin, meat and animal derivatives (chicken 8%), vegetable protein extracts, vegetables, oils and fats, seeds, minerals.

In recipe terms this is the standard Metabolic formula in a smaller piece. Cereals head the ingredients and derivatives of vegetable origin follow. Chicken appears at 8% inside the meat and animal derivatives entry, and vegetable protein extracts come next, then vegetables, oils and fats, with seeds and minerals at the tail.

Only the chicken is named to a species. Everything else on that list is a category. Where a particular grain or oil is a known trigger for your dog, the packet leaves the question open. That is the sort of thing to raise with the vet who dispensed the food, especially where reactions are part of why your dog is on a controlled diet in the first place.

The declared analysis matches the standard bag. Protein is 26.6%, fat 10.7% and crude fibre 12.9%, which convert to 28.9%, 11.6% and 14.0% of dry matter, and the carbohydrate estimate lands at 39.7% of dry matter. Fibre at that level is doing deliberate work here, giving the bowl bulk without much energy behind it, and energy is printed as 310 kcal per 100g.

Trace minerals come with figures beside them: 77.3mg of iron, 1.9mg of iodine, 7.6mg of copper, 83.0mg of manganese, 135mg of zinc and 0.2mg of selenium, plus a natural antioxidant.

Small dogs are the easiest of all to over-feed by eye, which is why the packet carries a table by bodyweight. On a therapeutic slimming plan, though, the daily amount is usually worked out by the practice from the weight your dog is heading towards rather than lifted off the pack. Whether this belongs in front of your dog is your vet's call.

It is sold in 3kg, 6kg and 9kg bags, at £6.61 a kilo.