Terra Canis Low Protein Diet: Veal review

Ingredients, as declared: Veal 27% (veal heart 10%, veal lung 5%, veal fat 11% ), broth 23%, carrot 14%, potato 11%, pumpkin 8%, courgette 6%, melon 3%, apple 3%, rapeseed oil 2%, minerals 1%*, coconut flour*, dandelion*, cumin*, parsley*, basil*, chia seed*, marigold*, stinging nettle*, oyster shell*, spirulina* *dried

All three share a plant frame, and it is the same list in the same order every time. Broth comes in at 23%, carrot at 14%, potato at 11%, pumpkin at 8%, courgette at 6%, apple and melon at 3% apiece, rapeseed oil at 2% and minerals at 1%. Only the animal at the top changes.

The named animal is a little over a quarter of each pack. Much of that quarter is fat or skin, not lean meat. Pull the protein figure down and the calories have to arrive from somewhere, so the fat in the meat portion and the starch in the vegetables carry them. That is the intended architecture of a protein restricted food rather than a corner cut in the recipe.

Under the 1% line each list closes with dried additions: coconut flour, dandelion, parsley, basil, chia seed, marigold, stinging nettle, oyster shell and spirulina, with one herb swapped between flavours. Oyster shell is a mineral inclusion sitting among the botanicals, which is easy to read past.

Read the analysis across the three and fat is declared at roughly twice the protein figure or more, and the dry matter conversions widen that gap further. Energy is not pulled down alongside the protein, so on this range it is the size of the portion that does the restricting rather than the food being thin.

Every label prints its added vitamins and trace minerals with a dose beside each entry, vitamin A and vitamin D3 ahead of iodine, copper, manganese and zinc. On one of the three the vitamin D3 figure is set a little differently. The vet who asked for the restriction is the one to settle how much of any of it your dog should have. That is not a call to make from a label at home.

Veal is the largest meat inclusion of the three at 27%, given as veal fat at 11%, veal heart at 10% and veal lung at 5%. Fat is the highest here at 9.4%, or 48.2% of dry matter, against 23.6% protein, with 110 kcal per 100g and calcium at 0.56% of dry matter. Anyone steering around beef should treat veal as the same animal. The feeding table matches the game one, up to 1200 to 1500 grams a day for a dog of 30 to 40kg.

The three come in one size, a 400g unit at £11.66 a kilo. You can buy it singly or in a pack of 6. A 15kg dog would go through 732 to 837 grams a day depending which one is in the bowl, putting the daily rate between £8.54 and £9.76.