Virbac

Virbac Veterinary HPM Adult Large & Medium review

Name: Virbac Veterinary HPM Adult Large & Medium
Brand: Virbac

58.5/100Good

DryAdult

A serious attempt at a meatier, lower starch bowl for a big dog. Protein is declared at 34.0% and estimated carbohydrate lands at 29.6% of dry matter, a long way under what dry food usually carries. It sits in our Good band, held there by a list that says poultry and never which bird.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Medium and large adults, the sizes the kibble is drawn up for
Protein high and starch low
Dogs kept off fish: no fish and no fish oil on the list
Unpredictable digestions, with psyllium, beet pulp and FOS behind an inactivated Lactobacillus culture
Owners who prefer to buy through their vet practice

Worth watching

Poultry, never a named bird, so no anchor for a single-bird elimination plan
Hydrolysed pork, if pig is off your dog's list
Lignocellulose, a refined fibre in for bulk
Rice, for a dog that does better without grain

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

58.5/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyGood

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for medium and large adults. The label puts an active 15kg dog on 230 grams a day, a small bowl for the calories, so weigh it.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Medium, Large

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Virbac Veterinary HPM Adult Large & Medium 58.5

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

A strong recipe written in vague language: the analysis pulls up and the unnamed animals pull down.

What's in it

Dehydrated poultry proteinsDried, so it keeps its weight in the kibble. The bird can change between batches with nothing on the label changing.
RiceThe only cereal, and easy on most digestions.
Poultry fats
PeasA little plant protein.
Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteinsBroken into smaller fragments, less likely to provoke a reaction. Puts pork in the bowl.
LignocellulosePurified plant fibre with almost no energy attached.
Minerals
Dried beet pulp, linseed, FOSMixed fibre and a prebiotic.
Psyllium fibreFirms a loose stool and softens a hard one.
Inactivated brewer's yeast, inactivated Lactobacillus helveticusBacterial fragments survive a bag far better than live cultures.

Generous where it counts: taurine at 1500 mg per kilo, a reassuring sight on a food for big dogs, with choline, vitamin E, zinc and iron all dosed high.

Poultry is never named to a species, so a dog avoiding one particular bird cannot rely on this label.

Named ingredients

Dehydrated poultry proteins; Rice; Poultry Fats; Peas; Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins; Lignocellulose; Minerals; Dried (sugar) beetpulp; Linseed,Fructo-oligosaccharides; Psylliumfibre (Plantago (L.) spp.); Inactivated brewer's yeast; Inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus.

Against the range

One high protein, low starch kibble for medium and large dogs, sold through vets. The animal entries name families, poultry and pork, never a species of bird, and the fibre blend is the most carefully built part of the list.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

370 kcal/100g

Protein

34%

Fat

17%

Fibre

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

37.4%

Fat

18.7%

Fibre

5.5%

Ash

8.8%

Carbs

29.6%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Oils

60.6%

Other

39.4%

Pricing & size