35% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Compare Natural Balance To
Compare Vital Essentials To
Brands Similar To
Ingredient Reviews
35% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Natural Balance &
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Natural Balance vs. Vital Essentials
In this comparison article for Natural Balance vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Natural Balance 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 Natural Balance comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Natural Balance Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. Natural Balance
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.
Natural Balance Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 27.6% | 52.2% |
| Crude Fat | 14.4% | 28.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.2% | 4.1% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 39.7% | 53.7% |
| Crude Fat | 20.5% | 31.0% |
| Crude Fiber | 8.5% | 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 24.55% more protein than Natural Balance. Similarly, Vital Essentials wet dog foods provide significantly more protein than Natural Balance 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 Natural Balance. More specifically, Vital Essentials guarantees at least 14.30% more fat. Similarly, Vital Essentials wet dog foods provide significantly more protein than Natural Balance wet foods.
Vital Essentials and Natural Balance both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. For wet dog foods, Natural Balance typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.82% more).
Natural Balance Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 36.8% | 54.0% |
| Crude Fat | 14.3% | 27.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.5% | 5.1% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 46.7% | 50.6% |
| Crude Fat | 20.2% | 18.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 7.1% | 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 Natural Balance. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 17.19%, which is a significant amount. For wet cat foods, Vital Essentials typically provides a little more protein (about 3.83% 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 13.22% more fat than Natural Balance recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of Natural Balance and Vital Essentials. For wet cat foods, Natural Balance 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, Natural Balance provides more fiber (about 4.69% more).
Natural Balance Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Natural Balance.
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 Natural Balance.
Product Safety: Recall History of Natural Balance & Vital Essentials?
Natural Balance has been recalled 6 times.
- July 21, 2007: ofbotulinum toxin
- May 4, 2012: Salmonella
- June 18, 2010: Salmonella
- April 27, 2007: Melamine
- April 17, 2007: Melamine
- July 3, 2020: elevated levels of choline chloride
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 | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $5.23 | $37.19 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0029 | $0.0186 |
| Dry Cat Food | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $3.69 | $39.03 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0023 | $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 Natural Balance 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 Natural Balance 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 Natural Balance 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 Natural Balance Pet Foods
You can purchase Natural Balance 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 | Natural Balance | Vital Essentials |
| Dry Dog Food | 39 Recipes | None |
| Wet Dog Food | 27 Recipes | None |
| Dog Treats | 33 Treats | 30 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 16 Recipes | None |
| Wet Cat Food | 43 Recipes | None |
| Cat Treats | None | 8 Treats |
Top Rated Natural Balance Recipes
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
