Terra Canis Derma Diet: Chicken and Salmon review

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon and chicken 53% (salmon fillet 8%, chicken heart 17%, chicken stomach 27% ), broth 21%, potato 8%, pumpkin 5%, cucumber 4%, courgette 3%, sweet potato 3%, coconut flour 1% *, rapeseed oil 1%, raspberry 1%, coconut flake 1% *, fish oil 1%, minerals 1% *, camomile *, marigold *, thyme *, stinging nettle *, basil *, spirulina *dried

The meat block is declared at 53% and then broken out in full, chicken stomach at 27%, chicken heart at 17% and salmon fillet at 8%. Two species, both named, with the organ meats carrying the bulk of it and the fillet the smallest of the three shares.

Chicken and salmon are the only meats in the tin, so this is not a one protein recipe, and fish oil at 1% puts a second fish input on top of the fillet. Where a skin plan is testing proteins one at a time, both animals in this list have to be part of that plan.

Broth makes up 21% and the plant side is fully itemised, potato at 8%, pumpkin at 5%, cucumber at 4%, with courgette and sweet potato at 3% each. Coconut flour, rapeseed oil, raspberry, coconut flake, fish oil and minerals each come in at 1%, and dried camomile, marigold, thyme, stinging nettle, basil and spirulina finish it in trace amounts.

The additive panel goes as far as printing the essential fatty acids, giving a linoleic acid figure and putting EPA plus DHA together at 2.0%. That is the sort of declaration a recipe sold on skin and coat is usually built around. Vitamin A is dosed at 27997 IU, with zinc at 18 mg, manganese at 12 mg, copper at 1.3 mg and a smaller iodine dose beside it, and no other vitamin carries a number here.

Protein is declared at 8.8% and fat at 5.9%, which against 80.4% moisture converts to 44.9% and 30.1% of dry matter. Crude fibre is 0.7%, ash 1.3%, and the carbohydrate estimate 2.9% as fed, or 14.8% dried down, with energy at 91 kcal per 100g. A fat share of that size is doing deliberate work in a skin diet rather than running high by accident. Whether it suits your dog is a decision to leave with the vet who recommended it.

It is sold as a single 400g tin or in packs of six, at £11.66 a kilo. The label's guide asks 550 to 1100 grams a day for a dog between 10 and 20kg. On that basis a 15kg dog eats about 925 grams, which works out at roughly £10.79 a day.