35% OFF
Essence &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Essence &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
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35% OFF
Essence &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Essence &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Essence vs. Vital Essentials
In this comparison article for Essence vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Essence 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 Essence comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Essence Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. Essence
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.
Essence Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 40.9% | 52.2% |
| Crude Fat | 19.3% | 28.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.7% | 4.1% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 46.2% | 53.7% |
| Crude Fat | 32.6% | 31.0% |
| Crude Fiber | 6.0% | 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 11.30% more protein than Essence. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials provides more protein (about 7.53% more).
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 Essence. More specifically, Vital Essentials guarantees at least 9.34% more fat. For wet dog foods, Essence and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of fat.
Vital Essentials and Essence both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Essence and Vital Essentials also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.
Essence Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 44.1% | 54.0% |
| Crude Fat | 18.5% | 27.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 46.2% | 50.6% |
| Crude Fat | 31.8% | 18.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.8% | 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 Essence. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 9.91%, which is a significant amount. For wet cat foods, Vital Essentials provides more protein (about 4.36% 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 9.02% more fat than Essence recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of Essence and Vital Essentials. Similarly, Essence wet cat foods provide significantly more protein than Vital Essentials wet foods.
There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands. For wet cat foods, Essence typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.39% more).
Essence Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients
In our option, both Essence and Vital Essentials utilize high-quality ingredients. According to our records, neither brand uses any type of controversial ingredients or harmful ingredients.
Product Safety: Recall History of Essence & Vital Essentials?
According to our records, Essence has never been recalled.
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 | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $4.11 | $37.19 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0024 | $0.0186 |
| Dry Cat Food | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $4.64 | $39.03 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0027 | $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 Essence 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 Essence 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 Essence and Vital Essentials. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.
- 20% Off First Auto-Ship @ PetFlow (Use Code PAWDIET20)
- 35% Off First Auto-Ship @ Chewy (No Code Required)
- 15% Off The Entire Site @ OnlyNaturalPet (Use Code AFPAWDIET)
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 Essence Pet Foods
You can purchase Essence 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 | Essence | Vital Essentials |
| Dry Dog Food | 6 Recipes | None |
| Wet Dog Food | 6 Recipes | None |
| Dog Treats | None | 30 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 3 Recipes | None |
| Wet Cat Food | 3 Recipes | None |
| Cat Treats | None | 8 Treats |
Top Rated Essence Recipes
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
