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Instinct &
American Journey
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20% OFF
Instinct
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Instinct
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Instinct vs. American Journey
In this comparison article for Instinct vs American Journey, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Instinct and American Journey, 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 American Journey vs Instinct comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Instinct Review Page or American Journey Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: American Journey vs. Instinct
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.
Instinct Dog Food vs. American Journey Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Crude Protein | 36.2% | 31.8% |
| Crude Fat | 24.1% | 14.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.4% | 6.4% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Crude Protein | 42.1% | 40.7% |
| Crude Fat | 27.7% | 27.6% |
| Crude Fiber | 10.0% | 7.0% |
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.
American Journey dry recipes contain 4.43% less protein than Instinct dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Instinct and American Journey. For wet dog foods, Instinct and American Journey provide roughly the same amount of protein.
Crude Fat Comparison For Dog Food
Dietary fats serves a multitude of roles in the proper development and function of our canine companions. Here are some of the benefits (not exhaustive):
- Help produce prostaglandins, which reduce inflammation among other critical functions.
- Aid in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
- Improve skin and coat health
- Improve the palatially of your dog's food
Instinct dry dog foods clearly provides more fat than American Journey. In fact, the difference between the fat content is roughly 9.44%, which is a significant amount. For wet dog foods, Instinct and American Journey provide roughly the same amount of fat.
According to our average data, Instinct typically provides less fiber than American Journey. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn't represent a significant difference between the two brands. In addition, Instinct wet dog foods also provide more fiber than American Journey wet foods.
Instinct Cat Food vs. American Journey Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Crude Protein | 43.7% | 39.8% |
| Crude Fat | 25.4% | 16.2% |
| Crude Fiber | 3.7% | 5.5% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Crude Protein | 47.1% | 52.9% |
| Crude Fat | 25.0% | 20.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 8.6% | 5.8% |
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.
If you look at the average percentages of crude protein, you'll notice that Instinct typically guarantees 3.82% more protein. This is a fairly small difference between Instinct and American Journey, but still worth mentioning. In addition, American Journey wet cat foods also provide more protein than Instinct wet foods.
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):
- Aid in the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
- Improve the health of skin/coat
- Slow the growth of yeast infections
- Slow the development and spread of certain type of cancers.
- Maintain healthy blood pressure
On average, Instinct dry cat food recipes contain 9.17% more fat than American Journey recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of American Journey and Instinct. For wet cat foods, Instinct provides more fat (about 4.17% more).
Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. For wet cat foods, Instinct typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.85% more).
Instinct Pet Food Ingredients vs. American Journey Pet Food Ingredients
Instinct and American Journey both use the following controversial ingredients in many of their products:
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Instinct.
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by American Journey.
We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health affects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.
Instinct and American Journey both use the following harmful ingredients in many of their products:
Product Safety: Recall History of Instinct & American Journey?
Instinct has been recalled 2 times.
- July 24, 2015: Salmonella
- Feb. 15, 2013: Pieces of clear plastic in bag
According to our records, American Journey has never been recalled.
Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?
| Dry Dog Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Per Pound | $8.93 | $2.16 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0044 | $0.0014 |
| Dry Cat Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Per Pound | $11.49 | $2.96 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0057 | $0.0018 |
| Wet Dog Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Per Pound | $6.31 | $2.83 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0107 | $0.0054 |
| Wet Cat Food | Instinct | American Journey |
| Per Pound | $8.87 | $6.24 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0179 | $0.0141 |
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 Instinct or American Journey, 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 Instinct or American Journey will depend on your shopping habits.
Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Instinct and American Journey. 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 Instinct Pet Foods
You can purchase Instinct pet foods from the following stores:
Where To Buy American Journey Pet Foods
You can purchase American Journey pet food products from these retailers:
Type Of Pet Foods Available
| Product | Instinct | American Journey |
| Dry Dog Food | 37 Recipes | 43 Recipes |
| Wet Dog Food | 10 Recipes | 11 Recipes |
| Dog Treats | None | 44 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 20 Recipes | 14 Recipes |
| Wet Cat Food | 16 Recipes | 23 Recipes |
| Cat Treats | None | 5 Treats |
Top Rated Instinct Recipes
Top Rated American Journey Recipes
