Virbac

Virbac Veterinary HPM Baby Large & Medium review

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

70.7/100Excellent

DryPuppy

A meat-heavy, low-starch growth kibble for pups that will finish as sizeable dogs, in our Excellent band. Carbohydrate is held to 25.8% of dry matter with protein at 38.5%. Calcium is printed, at 1.43% of dry matter, inside the range large-breed growth works to.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Medium and large breed puppies, the two sizes Virbac lists
Owners who read the calcium line first
A pup who suits a bowl built round meat
Puppies with real energy to burn: fat at 23.1% of dry matter and 384 kcal per 100g
Gut support on the list, from fructo oligosaccharides, psyllium and an inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus

Worth watching

Unnamed poultry, in the hydrolysed proteins and fats too, so a strict exclusion diet cannot keep chicken, duck, goose or turkey out
Fish oil on the list, so not fish free
Rich at 384 kcal per 100g against 376 for a typical puppy dry food, so weigh portions

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

How this scores

How we score

70.7/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyExcellent

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for medium and large breed puppies. Set the daily amount from Virbac's chart and keep adjusting as the frame fills out.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Medium, Large

Main protein

Pork

The score, in context

Virbac Veterinary HPM Baby Large & Medium 70.7

All one Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

The analysis is among the stronger shapes on any puppy shelf, and what keeps it out of the top band is a poultry half that never names a bird.

What's in it

Dehydrated pork and poultry proteinsPork is still uncommon in dog food. The poultry half is a category, any domestic bird the batch uses.
RiceOne of only two real starch sources.
Poultry fatsNo bird named.
Peas
LignocelluloseA purified fibre powder that bulks the recipe and brings little else.
Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins
Minerals, dried beet pulpBeet pulp is a mild, well tolerated fibre.
Fish oil, linseedMarine and plant omega 3 together, the pairing a growing coat and brain want.
Fructo-oligosaccharides, psyllium fibrePsyllium is the most useful of the three fibres.
Inactivated brewer's yeast, inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus

Fully dosed, with taurine at 1500 mg, choline at 3000 mg, vitamin E at 590 mg, iron at 260 mg and zinc at 160 mg per kilo among the entries.

Named ingredients

Dehydrated pork and poultry proteins; Rice; Poultry Fats; Peas; Lignocellulose; Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins; Minerals; Dried (sugar) beet pulp; Fish oil; Linseed; Fructo-oligosaccharides; Psyllium fibre (Plantago (L.) spp.); Inactivated brewer's yeast; Inactivated Lactobacillus helveticus.

Against the range

One growth recipe, opening on dehydrated pork and poultry proteins with rice and peas as the only real starch. Calcium is declared, and the fibre comes from psyllium, beet pulp and lignocellulose.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

384 kcal/100g

Protein

35%

Fat

21%

Fibre

Ash

7.5%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

38.5%

Fat

23.1%

Fibre

4.4%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

25.8%

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

100%

Pricing & size