35% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Compare Vital Essentials To
Compare The Honest Kitchen To
Brands Similar To
Ingredient Reviews
35% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials &
The Honest Kitchen
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Vital Essentials vs. The Honest Kitchen
In this comparison article for Vital Essentials vs The Honest Kitchen, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Vital Essentials and The Honest Kitchen, 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 The Honest Kitchen vs Vital Essentials comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Vital Essentials Review Page or The Honest Kitchen Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: The Honest Kitchen vs. Vital Essentials
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.
Vital Essentials Dog Food vs. The Honest Kitchen Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Crude Protein | 52.2% | 29.3% |
| Crude Fat | 28.7% | 15.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 4.1% | 6.3% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Crude Protein | 53.7% | 50.4% |
| Crude Fat | 31.0% | 24.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.6% | 5.1% |
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.
Vital Essentials dry dog foods clearly provides more protein than The Honest Kitchen. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 22.89%, which is a significant amount. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials typically provides a little more protein (about 3.31% more).
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
On average, Vital Essentials dry dog food recipes contain 12.95% more fat than The Honest Kitchen recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of The Honest Kitchen and Vital Essentials. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials provides more fat (about 6.46% more).
According to our average data, Vital Essentials typically provides less fiber than The Honest Kitchen. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn't represent a significant difference between the two brands. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials and The Honest Kitchen provide roughly the same amount of fiber.
Vital Essentials Cat Food vs. The Honest Kitchen Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Crude Protein | 54.0% | 40.4% |
| Crude Fat | 27.5% | 23.1% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.1% | 3.5% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Crude Protein | 50.6% | 52.0% |
| Crude Fat | 18.8% | 24.6% |
| Crude Fiber | 2.5% | 5.1% |
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.
When you look at the average percentages of crude protein for dry cat food, it's clear that Vital Essentials provides significantly more protein. On average, Vital Essentials guarantees about 13.57% more protein than The Honest Kitchen. For wet cat foods, The Honest Kitchen and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of protein.
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
The Honest Kitchen dry recipes contain 4.47% less fat than Vital Essentials dry recipes. This difference in fat content is a notable difference between Vital Essentials and The Honest Kitchen. In addition, The Honest Kitchen wet cat foods also provide more fat than Vital Essentials wet foods.
Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. For wet cat foods, The Honest Kitchen typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.60% more).
Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients vs. The Honest Kitchen Pet Food Ingredients
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by The Honest Kitchen.
Product Safety: Recall History of Vital Essentials & The Honest Kitchen?
Vital Essentials has been recalled 4 times.
- July 8, 2015: Listeria monocytogenes
- Jan. 15, 2016: Salmonella
- Feb. 24, 2018: Salmonella
- April 16, 2018: Salmonella
The Honest Kitchen has been recalled once.
- Feb. 21, 2013: Salmonella
Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?
| Dry Dog Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Per Pound | $37.19 | $9.66 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0186 | $0.0053 |
| Dry Cat Food | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Per Pound | $39.03 | $9.67 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0200 | $0.0049 |
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 Vital Essentials or The Honest Kitchen, 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 Vital Essentials or The Honest Kitchen will depend on your shopping habits.
Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Vital Essentials and The Honest Kitchen. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.
- 20% Off First Auto-Ship @ PetFlow (Use Code PAWDIET20)
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- 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 Vital Essentials Pet Foods
You can purchase Vital Essentials pet foods from the following stores:
Where To Buy The Honest Kitchen Pet Foods
You can purchase The Honest Kitchen pet food products from these retailers:
Type Of Pet Foods Available
| Product | Vital Essentials | The Honest Kitchen |
| Dry Dog Food | None | 9 Recipes |
| Wet Dog Food | None | 10 Recipes |
| Dog Treats | 30 Treats | 23 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | None | 3 Recipes |
| Wet Cat Food | None | 10 Recipes |
| Cat Treats | 8 Treats | 3 Treats |
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
Top Rated The Honest Kitchen Recipes
