Virbac

Virbac Veterinary HPM Clinical: Weight Loss & Diabetes W1 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.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer links are coming soon. Once we have them from UK retailers, where to buy and the best price will appear here.

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 proteinsPoultry is a group of birds, and the bird can move between batches.
Potato starchThe one flagged carbohydrate source. No rice.
LignocellulosePurified plant fibre, third on the list.
Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteinsHydrolysis breaks protein into fragments the immune system is less likely to react to.
Faba bean hulls
Animal fatsNo species named.
Minerals, linseed, beet pulp, psyllium fibre
FOS, brewers yeast
Hydrolysed crustaceanA source of chitosan.
Lactobacillus acidophilus, chondroitin sulphate

The vitamin and mineral panel is dosed a step above the rest of the range, taurine included, where the others print 1500 mg per kg.

Named ingredients

Dehydrated pork and poultry proteins; Potato starch [1]; Lignocellulose; Hydrolysed pork and poultry proteins; Faba bean hulls; Animal fats; Minerals; Linseed; Beet pulp; Psyllium fibre (Plantago (L.) spp.); Fructo-oligosaccharides; Brewers yeast; Hydrolysed crustacean (source of chitosan); Lactobacillus acidophilus; Chondroitin sulphate. [1] Carbohydrate sources

Against the range

Crude fibre as fed: 15%; Highest in the range
Fat as fed: 11.5%; Lowest in the range
Energy: 274 kcal per 100g; Lowest; the kidney diet reaches 391
Vitamins and minerals: A step above; The rest share one dose level
Rice, fish oil: Neither; Common across the rest

The furthest of the group from an everyday kibble.

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

274 kcal/100g

Protein

34%

Fat

11.5%

Fibre

15%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

37.4%

Fat

12.6%

Fibre

16.5%

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.

Oils

100%

Pricing & size