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Primal &
Vital Essentials
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Primal &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
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Primal &
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
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35% OFF
Primal &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Primal &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Primal &
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Primal vs. Vital Essentials
In this comparison article for Primal vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Primal 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 Primal comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Primal Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. Primal
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.
Primal Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 48.0% | 52.2% |
| Crude Fat | 26.7% | 28.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.6% | 4.1% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 49.5% | 53.7% |
| Crude Fat | 28.4% | 31.0% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.3% | 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.
Primal dry recipes contain 4.17% less protein than Vital Essentials dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Vital Essentials and Primal. In addition, Vital Essentials wet dog foods also provide more protein than Primal wet foods.
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
Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fat. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials typically provides a little more fat (about 2.58% more).
As you can see, Vital Essentials and Primal guarantee a similar amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Vital Essentials and Primal also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.
Primal Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 50.1% | 54.0% |
| Crude Fat | 24.0% | 27.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 54.6% | 50.6% |
| Crude Fat | 25.4% | 18.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.1% | 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.
According to our average data, Primal typically provides less protein than Vital Essentials. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn't represent a significant difference between the two brands. In addition, Primal wet cat foods also provide more protein than Vital Essentials 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
If you look at the average percentages of crude fat, you'll notice that Vital Essentials typically guarantees 3.50% more fat. This is a fairly small difference between Vital Essentials and Primal, but still worth mentioning. In addition, Primal wet cat foods also provide more fat than Vital Essentials wet foods.
Primal and Vital Essentials both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet cat food, Primal and Vital Essentials also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.
Primal Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients
In our option, both Primal 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 Primal & Vital Essentials?
Primal has been recalled 2 times.
- March 13, 2015: low thiamine level
- Dec. 22, 2017: incorrect bone grind size
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 | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $45.57 | $37.19 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0227 | $0.0186 |
| Dry Cat Food | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $45.93 | $39.03 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0230 | $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 Primal 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 Primal 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 Primal 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 Primal Pet Foods
You can purchase Primal 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 | Primal | Vital Essentials |
| Dry Dog Food | None | None |
| Wet Dog Food | None | None |
| Dog Treats | 6 Treats | 30 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | None | None |
| Wet Cat Food | None | None |
| Cat Treats | None | 8 Treats |
Top Rated Primal Recipes
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
