Considering the cost of vet visits, cost of medicine and other health related expenses, proper feeding could easily help us avoid the unnecessary expenses and emotional trauma of watching our furry friends go through a health phase.
To ascertain the best quality pet food for your dogs and cats, we are comparing two of our favorite brands that have been tested and proven to have great quality, Nutro and Blue Buffalo.
Nutro and Blue Buffalo are two popular, nutritious, and highly sort after brands but how can we ever decide, since they are both great brands?
By the end of this article, all your questions on both pet food brands will have been answered and you will learn how to make the best pet food choices for your furry friend.
Let’s see what these pet food brands have to offer in terms of their nutritional values, product safety, cost and other important factors.
After you are done with this awesome comparison check out Nutro and Blue Buffalo here to see the different flavors and pricing.
Contents:
- 🤔 Nutro vs Blue Buffalo FAQ
- ⚖️ Nutro and Blue Buffalo Pros and Cons
- 😻 Types Of Pet Food
- 🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
- 💰 Price Comparison
- 🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
- 🏡 About Nutro and Blue Buffalo
- 🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
- 🏆 Nutro Vs Blue Buffalo: And the winner goes to…
🤔Nutro vs Blue Buffalo FAQ
What is guaranteed analysis?
The concept of guaranteed analysis on pet food products is to assure purchasers of the precise nutrient content of each consumable. Emphasized by AAFCO, guaranteed analysis by food labels must meet certain requirements such as an exact value for the minimum percentage of crude protein and fat, as well as the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture on the basis of dry matter obtained. All of the percentages that I use in this comparison are averages of dry matter basis. Learn about dry matter basis here.
which one has more protein?
Blue Buffalo have 1.5% more protein than what Nutro offers for dry canine foods and 2.1% less protein than Nutro for wet canine foods.
whereas Nutro dry feline food has 1.8% more protein than Blue Buffalo, also, Nutro wet feline foods has 6.3% more protein than Blue Buffalo wet feline foods.
There is relatively no significant difference between the protein content of both brands except for the wet cat foods where Nutro dominates with 6.3% difference.
Which one is cheaper?
The Nutro brand is more affordable than the Blue Buffalo whereas its wet pet foods are relatively more expensive that the wet pet foods of Blue Buffalo.
Which one has more flavor?
Blue Buffalo has a total of 339 flavors while Nutro has 223 flavors for both cats and dogs.
Which one has had more recalls?
Nutro has been recalled four times whereas Blue Buffalo has had nine recalls since its inception
Check out the current prices, recipes and flavors for Nutro and Blue Buffalo
⚖️Nutro and Blue Buffalo Pros and Cons
Nutro Pros:
Nutro Cons:
Blue Buffalo pros:
Blue Buffalo cons:
😻 Types Of Pet Food From Nutro and Blue Buffalo
| Product (Dog Food) | Nutro | Blue Buffalo |
| Dry Food | 65 recipes | 85 recipes |
| Wet Food | 52 recipes | 101 recipes |
| Treats | 28 recipes | 51 recipes |
| Product (Cat Food) | ||
| Dry Food | 25 recipes | 40 recipes |
| Wet Food | 53 recipes | 47 recipes |
| Treats | ❌ | 15 recipes |
| 😻 See all Nutro recipes | 😻 See all Blue Buffalo recipes |
In comparison, both brands have an extensive amount of food types for dogs and cats as well as treats.
Nutro has a total of 223 recipes for both dogs and cats while Blue Buffalo has 339recipes for both pet types. The Nutro brand offers no recipe for cat treats.
🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison: Nutro vs Blue Buffalo
How much calories should you feed your dogs and cats per day? Does the food content being provided daily meet the standard nutritional needs of your pet? How much is too small or too much?
A proper examination of the Canine and feline food label of choice is an excellent way to select a pet food that meets the best nutritional requirements that would support a long, healthy life for your dogs or cats.
The benefit of choosing popular brands in relation to nutritional value is to provide your pets with delicious, irresistible meals that they cannot wait to dig into as well as meals that nourish and boost the immune system and mitigate possibilities of diseases or infections.
The three main nutrients that play vital roles are protein, fat, fiber and moisture. Let compare both brands based on their nutritional value.
| Nutro | Protein(dry) | Protein(wet) | Fat (dry) | Fat(wet) | Fiber (dry) | Fiber (wet) |
| Dog | 27.0% | 42.5% | 15.1% | 23.7% | 4.6% | 5.8% |
| Cat | 38.8% | 51.7% | 17.5% | 23.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Blue Buffalo | ||||||
| Dog | 28.5% | 40.4% | 15.0% | 25.2% | 7.1% | 7.5% |
| Cat | 37.0% | 45.4% | 16.3% | 24.7% | 6.4% | 8.2% |
| 🥕 See more Nutro info | 🥕 See more Blue Buffalo info |
Protein
Dogs and cats require a good amount of protein to thrive. They cannot survive without the essential amino acids supplied by protein-rich diets that they consume every other day. House pets, especially dogs and cats, can tell when their diet lacks a hint of flavor which is mostly delivered by essential amino acid and fat.
They tend to avoid such a meal when it is unpleasant to their taste buds as well as difficult to digest. They can also survive on a vegan diet if it contains enough protein and vitamin D as supplement.
Different pet food brands have varying protein percentages, however, it’s important to check out their different recommended feeding range so as not to under feed or over feed your pet with protein as this could result to digestive issues.
Like their ancestors, Canines and felines mostly survive on solely protein diet and have a digestive system well suited for the consumption of animal protein.
As far as protein content goes, Nutro is seen to have an upper hand on both cat and dog food with an exception to the dry dog food.
Fat Content
Dietary fats are fat content obtained from animal or plants which supplies essential fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by dogs and cats.
These fatty acids play important roles in our pet’s cell function and structure. Not only do these fatty acids enhance the taste and texture of the pet’s food, they also keep the skin and coat of dogs and cats healthy and shiny.
Fats help our pets retain water in their body system and reduce inflammation in dogs and cats. Fat provides energy needed by cats and dogs required for their daily lives.
Nutro and Blue Buffalo both provides almost the same amount of fat in all their products.
Fiber Content
For proper function of the gastrointestinal systems of dogs and cats, fiber must be present in their diet. Fiber is often thought to only improve digestion however fiber can also be used curb excess weight in pets that do not exactly get enough exercise daily. Excessive consumption of fiber by our pets could help in controlling our pets’ weight, help in managing hyperglycemia and increase the functioning of the large intestine.
For some dogs and cats, excessive fiber diet could result in frequent defecation, reduced palatability of foods and treats, and decrease digestion of other important nutrients.
There is little to no difference between the fiber content of Blue Buffalo and Nutro. However, Blue Buffalo guarantees about 2.48% more fiber than Nutro.
💰 Price Comparison
Pet care cost can be overwhelming especially when we are on a fixed budget as pet owners. However, a little increase in our budget resulting from our pet food is something we can live with because we can’t really put a price on the companionship and love these furry friends bring to our lives and family.
Comparing different cat and dog food prices can be done by just looking at their individual price tags but trying to ascertain which of them actually offers the true value for the money you’re spending is a whole different story.
Let uscompare the prices of Nutro and Blue Buffalo pet foods using the average cost per calories and the average cost per pound.
| Dog Food | Nutro (dry) | Nutro (wet) | Blue Buffalo (dry) | Blue Buffalo (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.27 | $5.20 | $2.61 | $4.29 |
| Per calorie | $0.0014 | $0.0130 | 0.00160 | $0.0088 |
| Cat Food | Nutro (dry) | Nutro (wet) | Blue Buffalo (dry) | Blue Buffalo (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.91 | $6.43 | $3.88 | $5.54 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0017 | $0.0123 | $0.0144 | $0.0112 |
| 💰 See the best Nutro prices | 💰 See the best Blue Buffalo prices |
It is more accurate to use the average cost-per-kcal metrics when comparing the prices of pet foods because it tells you the average cost of pet food (dry matter basis).
Some pet owners still use the average cost-per-lb. This metrics calculates the cost of the food with its water content inclusive.
From the table above, it is observed that Blue Buffalo dry dog and cat foods are more expensive than the ones produced by Nutro while Nutro wet dog and cat food seem more expensive than those from Blue Buffalo. However, Nutro offers 100% money back guarantee for all their products if you do not see immediate positive results.
So where is the best place to purchase these brands? Good question! Overall, chewy.com has the cheapest prices.
They also offer 30% on your first autoship order which saves you a good chunk of change and makes your pet food ordering process automatic. Overall, this has saved me a ton of time.
🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
Both Nutro and Blue Buffalo provide wet and dry dog and cat foods as well as treats for all pet sizes, breed, and activity levels.
Nutro
Nutro offers a range of great dog and cat food products and the primary ingredient is a real meat source without any unnecessary fillers, animal by-product meal or artificial flavors or preservative.
The Nutro brand uses simple yet high quality salmon, , deboned lamb, sweet potato, chicken meal, rice bran, whole brown rice, brewers rice, whole grain oatmeal, , lamb meal, split peas chickpeas, beet pulp, rosemary extract, natural flavor, pork meal, probiotics, chicken fat, flaxseed, sunflower oil ( with mixed tocopherols preservative), sorghum soybean oil, salt, folic acid, selenium yeast, , vitamins and minerals.
Every ingredient Nutro uses is purposefully added to deliver superior nutrition and flavor that makes them outstanding.
Popular flavors
- Steamed Salmon entree
- Grain-free steamed chicken and turkey
- Grain-free fillets in gravy
- Chicken lamb and salmon entree
Blue Buffalo
Blue Buffalo provides a variety of healthy, comprehensive foods for dogs and cats of all ages, dietary needs and breeds.
The brand uniquely mixed real meat, wholesome natural ingredients and LifeSource Bits ranging from exotic fruits to various vegetables that supports growth and development as well as healthy balance in cats and dogs. This brand does not use any form of Chicken, eggs, beef, corn, soy, wheat, dairy, by-product meals, artificial flavors, color or preservatives, instead it uses single animal protein source such as turkey and pea protein concentrate, powdered cellulose, easily digestible carbohydrates, , caramel color, canola oil, dried tomato pomace, garlic,
omega 3 and 6 fatty acids pumpkin, minerals and vitamins.
popular recipes
- Chicken entree in gravy
- chicken and salmon
- chicken and trout
- beef and chicken dry
Check out the current Nutro and Blue Buffalo recipes here
🏡 About Nutro and Blue Buffalo
Nutro Information
The Nutro brand since its inception in 1926 has been committed to producing natural, delicious, nutritious and exceptional dog and cat foods as well as treats.
The Nutro company is a family owned and operated company, first named as “Nutro Products” in 1926 by John Saleen. The Nutro company has its headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, USA and it is a subsidiary of Mars Inc.
Nutro pet food has several manufacturing plants are in California, Missouri and Tennessee with a worldwide distribution network cutting across Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Oceania and USA.
The company relies on the produce of some trusted local farmers for every ingredient used for the formulation of their sumptuous recipes. Pet food products by this brand include Ultra Small Breed Adult, Wholesome Essentials Chicken, Brown Rice & Sweet Potato Recipe, Max Cat Weight Control, Wholesome Essentials Lamb and Rice Recipe, Wholesome Essentials Farm-Raised Chicken and Brown rice Recipe, Wholesome Essentials small bites Lamb and rice recipe, and others.
Blue Buffalo Information
The Blue Buffalo brand was built upon the love and affection Bill and Jackie Bishop (Founders) had for their Airedale, Blue, when the furry family member started suffering from some health-related problems.
Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. is the parent company of the Blue Buffalo Companywho owns and produces Blue Buffalo pet foods. The company is situated in Wilton. Connecticut, United states and Billy Bishop has been the company’s CEO since January 2017. The Company produces and distributes its dog and cat food products in Canada, Japan, and Mexico.
The manufacturing division of the company is operated by several food production companies such as Heartland Pet Food Manufacturing Holding, LLC, Triple T Foods, ProPet, ANI/Vita-Line,Ainsworth, CJ Foods, and Tuffy’s.
🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
Companies make scheduled recalls on products that may have a foreseen defect or safety issues. The importance of a recall is to conduct further safety tests in order to effect changes to product to ensure that it is safe for use.
Nutro Recalls
- Dec 13th, 2015 – Mold risk
- Aug 30th, 2013 – Salmonella risk
- Sept 30th, 2009 – pieces of melted plastic inclusions
- May 21st, 2009 – incorrect levels of zinc and potassium
- March 16th, 2007 – Melamine risk
Blue Buffallo Recalls
- March 18th 2017 – elevated beef thyroid hormone
- March 3rd 2017 – foil seal on package inconsistency
- Feb 14th 2017 – presence of aluminum
- May 31st 2016 – Mold
- Nov 25th 2015 – Salmonella risk
- Nov 6th 2015 – presence of propylene Glycol
- Oct 8th 2010 – toxic levels of vitamin D
- April 26th 2007 – Melamine
- April 19th 2007 – Melamine
🏆Nutro Vs Blue Buffalo: And the winner goes to…
Comparing both brands has been quite interesting. I believe it is safe to say that we have a tie because each brand has its own unique properties and qualities.
For example, they both have great price range across all meals, their nutritional contents are outstanding and they both have quite a number of flavors to satisfy just about any cat or dog.
However, if you prefer a pet food brand with more protein and less recalls then you should opt for Nutro but if your preference is on flavors, the Blue Buffalo brand is a good option.
| If you want | Then you should choose |
| Higher levels of protein | Nutro |
| A cost effective option | Nutro |
| A wider variety of flavors and ingredients | Blue Buffalo |
| Safety, based on number of recalls | Nutro |
| A balanced diet for all age levels | Both brands |
References:
https://bluebuffalo.com/for-cats/
Cat It Up Blue Buffalo