Virbac

Virbac Veterinary HPM Clinical: Urology U1 review

We don't put a score on this food. It is a veterinary diet, formulated for a diagnosed condition and meant to be fed on a vet's advice. Your vet has seen your dog and we have not, so a number from us could only pull you towards their advice or away from it, and neither of those is ours to do. What follows is what the label declares, what the analysis works out at, and where to buy it, with no judgement attached to any of it.

Virbac sells these under its Veterinary HPM Clinical name, a set of 8 dry diets built on a shared pork and poultry protein base. Each one is directed by the maker at a different named condition, from skin and joints through to kidneys, urinary stones, diabetes and weight.

DryAdult

Flavour

Virbac's set of 8 dry clinical diets, each aimed by the maker at a named condition, from skin and joints to kidneys, urinary stones, diabetes and weight. We do not put a score on them. They share a pork and poultry protein base, and the analyses spread widely because each diet has a different job.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs whose vet has prescribed one of the 8 by name
Owners who want a full vitamin and mineral panel, dosed line by line
Feeding guides that run up to a 60kg dog
A narrowed ingredient list for a dog meeting fewer things

Worth watching

Poultry and animal fats are not one named animal, so read slowly on an exclusion plan
Hydrolysed crustacean in four diets and egg membrane in the mobility one
Feeding amounts differ between diets even at the same weight

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

The details

Dog fit

Life stages vary by diet: the skin and mobility diets are listed from puppyhood, the rest for adults or adults and seniors. Your vet sets which diet and how much.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Pork

What's in it

Dehydrated pork and poultry proteinsVirbac describes the 34% protein as 85% animal origin.
Rice, animal fats, peasThe fats name no species.
Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteinsHydrolysis breaks protein into fragments the immune system is less likely to react to.
MineralsThe maker says calcium and phosphorus are held low with new struvite and oxalate stones in mind.
Potato starch, lignocellulose, faba bean hulls, beet pulp
Linseed, fish oil
Psyllium fibre, FOS, brewers yeast
Lactobacillus acidophilus, chondroitin sulfate

A full vitamin and trace mineral panel with a dose on every line, down to folic acid and B12, plus added taurine at 1500 mg per kg and choline.

Named ingredients

Dehydrated pork and poultry proteins [1]; rice, animal fats; peas; hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins [1]; minerals; potato starch; lignocellulose; faba bean hulls; beet pulp; linseed; fish oil; psyllium fibre (Plantago (L.) spp.); fructo-oligosaccharides; brewers yeast; Lactobacillus acidophilus; chondroitin sulfate. [1] Protein sources, 34% high-quality protein (85% animal origin) improves the palatability of the food and also stimulates water intake which increases urine volume and helps to keep the urine dilute. Low calcium and phosphorus content, To limit new struvite and oxalate stones

Against the range

On the list: The maker's reasoning, printed; Other labels carry footnotes at most
Protein as fed: 34%; The same on most of the range
Fat, fibre, energy: 17.5%, 5%, 374 kcal per 100g; Mid range on all three

The protein level is meant, in the maker's words, to encourage a dog to drink more.

Six of the 8 open with dehydrated pork and poultry proteins, and hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins appear in every recipe. Poultry names a group of birds, and the animal fats name nothing. Five carry fish oil and one is built on hydrolysed fish protein.

Rice, potato starch, peas and faba bean hulls share the carbohydrate; lignocellulose, beet pulp and psyllium the fibre. Every recipe ends with Lactobacillus acidophilus. The analyses fan out by job: protein as fed from 20.5% to 34%, crude fibre from 4.5% to 15%, energy from 274 to 391 kcal per 100g.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

374 kcal/100g

Protein

34%

Fat

17.5%

Fibre

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

37.4%

Fat

19.2%

Fibre

5.5%

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.

Meat

43%

Added water

34%

Oils

14%

Other

9.1%

Pricing & size