Terra Canis Intestinal Diet: Chicken review

Ingredients, as declared: chicken 44% (chicken muscle meat 24%, chicken stomach 20%), broth 19%, potato 7%, carrot 7%, courgette 5%, fennel 3%, celery 3%, cellulose 3%, strawberry 1%, blueberry 1%, rapeseed oil 1%, minerals 1%*, MCT oil, coconut flour*, camomile *, mineral clay*, probiotics (Emiko® EM mixture)*, savory*, psyllium husks*, linseed*, caraway*, yarrow*, ginkgo leaf*, aniseed*, Andean salt*, oyster shell*, spirulina* *dried

Chicken is declared at 44%, split into muscle meat at 24% and stomach at 20%. No other animal protein appears in the recipe. Broth at 19% comes next, then potato and carrot at 7% each, courgette at 5%, and fennel and celery at 3%.

Cellulose is printed at 3%. Purified plant fibre passes through a dog largely untouched, and it is used to give a food bulk without energy. That is the job it has been handed here. Psyllium husks and linseed lower down bring the soluble sort of fibre, with dried camomile and a mineral clay beside them.

The list names its probiotic blend by brand rather than by the organisms in it, so neither the strains nor their counts are on the pack. MCT oil sits just after the declared 1% entries; medium chain fats are taken up more directly than ordinary ones, which is why they turn up in feeding meant for a gut that is recovering.

Andean salt gets its own entry towards the end of the list, so anyone keeping an eye on sodium at home can see it declared. Oyster shell, spirulina and a set of dried herbs including savory, caraway, yarrow, ginkgo leaf and aniseed round the list off, none of them with a figure attached.

Protein converts to 37.6% of dry matter from the 8.2% on the label, and fat to 23.9% from 5.2%, with moisture declared at 78.2%. Crude fibre stands at 2.2% as fed, or 10.1% dried down, which follows from the cellulose and the husks doing their work. The carbohydrate estimate is 4.8% as fed and 22.0% of dry matter, and energy is 76 kcal per 100g, a light figure per spoonful that means bigger bowls rather than a thin recipe. Whether this is the right food for your dog's gut is for the vet treating it to say.

It is sold in 400g tins, singly or six at a time, at £11.66 a kilo. The label's guide runs from 650 to 1150 grams a day for a dog of 10 to 20kg, so a 15kg dog is on about 1098 grams, or roughly £12.80 a day.