Virbac Veterinary HPM Adult Sensitive Neutered review

Our scoring leaves this at the lower end of the Good band, where the average bag of adult dry food also finishes. Part of the distance between this and its stablemates is real, since rice sits ahead of the meat and the protein declaration is the lightest of the group. Part of it is missing information, because without a declared ash figure the analysis cannot be put on a dry matter basis and the carbohydrate has to be left unestimated. Neither changes what the recipe is for, which is keeping a sensitive gut on an even keel.

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

Rice comes first, and that is the honest headline. It is a gentle starch that most dogs handle well, and a sensible base for a dog that reacts to richer bowls. The plant side does lead here in a way it does not elsewhere in the range. Dehydrated pork and poultry proteins follow, and protein still lands at 29% as fed, which is a respectable level for a kibble.

Because no ash figure is declared, this recipe cannot be converted to a dry matter basis or have its carbohydrate estimated. The panel is as fed throughout and reads a little differently from its stablemates. Energy is declared at 338 kcal per 100g.

The digestive thinking runs through the smaller entries. Psyllium husk brings soluble fibre, dried sugar beet pulp adds the insoluble kind, fructo-oligosaccharides feed the gut's own bacteria, and inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus does related work in heat-treated form. Crude fibre settles at 7.5%, lighter than the neutered recipes sitting either side of it.

Yucca schidigera is the entry that sets this bag apart from the rest of the family. It is a plant extract included with stool odour in mind, the sort of detail that means nothing until the day it means a great deal. Linseed provides omega 3 in its plant form, and inactivated brewer's yeast brings B vitamins along with a little extra protein.

Two points about the naming are worth having straight. Pork and poultry appear together in both the dehydrated and the hydrolysed protein, so neither can be attributed to one animal, and the poultry fat carries the same open label. Sugar shows up in the allergen summary, and nothing on the list is a sweetener. The flag comes from dried sugar beet pulp, the fibre that is left when the sugar has gone.

£7.42 a kilo, sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult in moderate condition needs roughly 249 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which comes to £1.84 a day. The bag's own table is leaner at 200 grams for that dog, so use the waistline as the referee.