35% OFF
Castor & Pollux &
Vital Essentials
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20% OFF
Castor & Pollux &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
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Ingredient Reviews
35% OFF
Castor & Pollux &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Castor & Pollux &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Castor & Pollux vs. Vital Essentials
In this comparison article for Castor & Pollux vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Castor & Pollux and Vital Essentials, we'll use up-to-date nutritional and price information.
There are many factors to consider when choosing the best pet food brand for your pet. Factors such as ingredient quality, guaranteed analysis, product safety, brand history, and cost are among the most important factors to consider.
Throughout this Vital Essentials vs Castor & Pollux comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Castor & Pollux Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. Castor & Pollux
According to AAFCO, all pet food labels must provide a guaranteed analysis of nutrient content. The analysis must provide guaranteed minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat, and maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture.
All percentages used in this comparison are averages reported on a dry matter basis.
Castor & Pollux Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 32.6% | 52.2% |
| Crude Fat | 17.1% | 28.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 39.9% | 53.7% |
| Crude Fat | 23.5% | 31.0% |
| Crude Fiber | 6.5% | 5.6% |
Crude Protein Comparison For Dog Food
Protein is an extremely important part of your dog's diet. Without sufficient protein, dogs can develop a wide-range of serious health problems.
When you look at the average percentages of crude protein for dry dog food, it's clear that Vital Essentials provides significantly more protein. On average, Vital Essentials guarantees about 19.57% more protein than Castor & Pollux. Similarly, Vital Essentials wet dog foods provide significantly more protein than Castor & Pollux wet foods.
Crude Fat Comparison For Dog Food
Fats are an absolutely vital component of a balanced canine diet. Not only do fats provide energy, but they also serve important roles in the normal development and function of your dog's body. For example, fats help dogs produce prostaglandins, which reduce inflammation among many other significant functions.
The comparison table above shows that Vital Essentials dry dog foods provide significantly more fat than Castor & Pollux. More specifically, Vital Essentials guarantees at least 11.54% more fat. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials provides more fat (about 7.51% more).
Vital Essentials and Castor & Pollux both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Castor & Pollux and Vital Essentials also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.
Castor & Pollux Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 38.2% | 54.0% |
| Crude Fat | 15.7% | 27.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.0% | 5.1% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 43.3% | 50.6% |
| Crude Fat | 20.4% | 18.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.7% | 2.5% |
Crude Protein Comparison For Cat Food
Protein is an extremely important part of your cat's diet. Without sufficient protein, cats can develop a wide-range of serious health problems.
Vital Essentials dry cat foods clearly provides more protein than Castor & Pollux. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 15.78%, which is a significant amount. For wet cat foods, Vital Essentials provides more protein (about 7.26% more).
Crude Fat Comparison For Cat Food
There are many ways in which dietary fat contributes to the overall health of our feline friends. Here is a short list of benefits provided by fats (not exhaustive):
- Fats help with the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
- Reduce inflammation associated with arthritis
- Slow the growth of yeast infections
- Prevent or reduce the likelihood of certain heart problems.
- Aid in the development of the retina and visual cortex.
On average, Vital Essentials dry cat food recipes contain 11.81% more fat than Castor & Pollux recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of Castor & Pollux and Vital Essentials. For wet cat foods, Castor & Pollux and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of fat.
There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands. For wet cat foods, Castor & Pollux typically provides a little more fiber (about 3.28% more).
Castor & Pollux Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Castor & Pollux.
We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health affects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.
Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by Castor & Pollux.
Product Safety: Recall History of Castor & Pollux & Vital Essentials?
Castor & Pollux has been recalled once.
- May 23, 2018: elevated levels of beef thyroid hormone
Vital Essentials has been recalled 4 times.
- July 8, 2015: Listeria monocytogenes
- Jan. 15, 2016: Salmonella
- Feb. 24, 2018: Salmonella
- April 16, 2018: Salmonella
Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?
| Dry Dog Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $5.01 | $37.19 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0030 | $0.0186 |
| Dry Cat Food | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $5.50 | $39.03 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0033 | $0.0200 |
The average cost-per-lb is heavily influenced by the varying amounts of moisture present in each brand's food products (wet vs. dry food, dry vs. freeze-dried food, etc). However, the average cost-per-kcal eliminates the influence of moisture. Therefore, the average cost-per-kcal is the better metric to consider.
If you'd like to calculate the average cost-per-day or cost-pet-year of feeding Castor & Pollux or Vital Essentials, input your pet's weight into our cost analyzer widget.
Averages price data can identify whether or not there exists a significant price difference between two brands. However, the actual price that you'll pay for Castor & Pollux or Vital Essentials will depend on your shopping habits.
Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Castor & Pollux and Vital Essentials. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.
- 20% Off First Auto-Ship @ PetFlow (Use Code PAWDIET20)
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Disclosure: PawDiet has an affiliate relationship with stores featured (or linked-to) in this article. We are compensated for referring customers. Thank you for shopping with our retail partners!
Where To Buy Castor & Pollux Pet Foods
You can purchase Castor & Pollux pet foods from the following stores:
Where To Buy Vital Essentials Pet Foods
You can purchase Vital Essentials pet food products from these retailers:
Type Of Pet Foods Available
| Product | Castor & Pollux | Vital Essentials |
| Dry Dog Food | 17 Recipes | None |
| Wet Dog Food | 28 Recipes | None |
| Dog Treats | 22 Treats | 30 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 6 Recipes | None |
| Wet Cat Food | 18 Recipes | None |
| Cat Treats | 1 Treats | 8 Treats |
Top Rated Castor & Pollux Recipes
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
