Download The PawDiet App
Get Free Recall & Price Alerts Free Recall Alerts Price Drop Alerts Health Records

Wellness vs. Blue Buffalo

In this comparison article for Wellness vs Blue Buffalo, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Wellness and Blue Buffalo, 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 Blue Buffalo vs Wellness comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Wellness Review Page or Blue Buffalo Review Page.

Guaranteed Analysis: Blue Buffalo vs. Wellness

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.

Wellness Dog Food vs. Blue Buffalo Dog Food

Dry Dog Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	34.6%	29.5%
Crude Fat	15.8%	15.3%
Crude Fiber	5.6%	6.8%

Wet/Canned Dog Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	41.8%	40.0%
Crude Fat	24.1%	26.2%
Crude Fiber	4.9%	7.4%

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.

Blue Buffalo dry recipes contain 5.17% less protein than Wellness dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Wellness and Blue Buffalo. For wet dog foods, Wellness and Blue Buffalo 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

Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fat. For wet dog foods, Blue Buffalo typically provides a little more fat (about 2.11% more).

As you can see, Wellness and Blue Buffalo guarantee a similar amount of crude fiber. For wet dog foods, Blue Buffalo typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.53% more).

Wellness Cat Food vs. Blue Buffalo Cat Food

Dry Cat Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	42.0%	37.5%
Crude Fat	16.0%	16.8%
Crude Fiber	4.7%	6.2%

Wet/Canned Cat Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Crude Protein	45.0%	45.8%
Crude Fat	24.7%	24.3%
Crude Fiber	5.6%	8.1%

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.

The table shows that Blue Buffalo provides far less protein than Wellness. The difference in protein content is roughly 4.44%. For wet cat foods, Blue Buffalo and Wellness 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

Wellness and Blue Buffalo both provide roughly the same amount of crude fat. With regards to wet cat food, Wellness and Blue Buffalo also provide roughly the same amount of crude fat.

There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands. For wet cat foods, Blue Buffalo typically provides a little more fiber (about 2.45% more).

Wellness Pet Food Ingredients vs. Blue Buffalo Pet Food Ingredients

Wellness and Blue Buffalo both use the following controversial ingredients in many of their products:

Garlic

Canola Oil

Pea Protein

Caramel Color

Tomato Pomace

Dried Tomato Pomace

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Wellness.

Brewers Rice

Garlic Powder

Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Blue Buffalo.

Caramel

Powdered Cellulose

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 Wellness.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by Blue Buffalo.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex

Product Safety: Recall History of Wellness & Blue Buffalo?

Wellness has been recalled 5 times.

March 18, 2017: elevated beef throid hormone
Feb. 10, 2017: foreign material
Oct. 30, 2012: High Moisture
May 4, 2012: Salmonella
Feb. 28, 2011: Low Levels of Thiamine (Vitamin B1)

Blue Buffalo has been recalled 9 times.

Nov. 25, 2015: Salmonella
Nov. 6, 2015: Presence of Propylene Glycol
May 31, 2016: Mold
March 18, 2017: elevated beef throid hormone
Feb. 14, 2017: presence of aluminum
March 3, 2017: Foil Seal Packaging Problem
Oct. 8, 2010: toxic levels of vitamin D
April 19, 2007: Melamine
April 26, 2007: Melamine

Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?

Dry Dog Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$3.61	$3.42
Per Calorie	$0.0022	$0.0021

Dry Cat Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$3.90	$5.07
Per Calorie	$0.0023	$0.0031

Wet Dog Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$6.74	$5.09
Per Calorie	$0.0140	$0.0100

Wet Cat Food	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Per Pound	$9.09	$7.50
Per Calorie	$0.0223	$0.0153

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 Wellness or Blue Buffalo, 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 Wellness or Blue Buffalo will depend on your shopping habits.

Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Wellness and Blue Buffalo. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.

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 Wellness Pet Foods

You can purchase Wellness pet foods from the following stores:

213 Recipes In-Stock Today

166 Recipes In-Stock Today

172 Recipes In-Stock Today

21 Recipes In-Stock Today

Where To Buy Blue Buffalo Pet Foods

You can purchase Blue Buffalo pet food products from these retailers:

281 Recipes In-Stock Today

135 Recipes In-Stock Today

262 Recipes In-Stock Today

14 Recipes In-Stock Today

Type Of Pet Foods Available

Product	Wellness	Blue Buffalo
Dry Dog Food	59 Recipes	93 Recipes
Wet Dog Food	53 Recipes	94 Recipes
Dog Treats	25 Treats	50 Treats
Dry Cat Food	19 Recipes	42 Recipes
Wet Cat Food	74 Recipes	59 Recipes
Cat Treats	5 Treats	16 Treats