The million dollar question is what does your pet enjoy eating? What flavors do they like best? Have you noticed any difference in their cravings for a particular food brand? Oh… and what are the major ingredients that make up your pet’s favorite brand?
This might seem like a lot of questions all at once, why do they matter?
Here’s the thing; your pets have a pretty heightened sense of smell and taste as well as a delicate digestive system which can make them a bit selective to certain foods.
To be on the safe side, there are many brands today that offer high-quality pet foods manufactured with all- natural ingredients and a wide variety of delicious and healthy condiments.
The Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin are two popular brands that have made their name in the pet food industry through success stories.
Pets just cannot get enough of both brands. So what makes them special? What’s the fuss about Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin? Well let’s find out.
In the course of this article you will learn how to pick the best pet food brand for your furry friend, you will also find out everything you need to know about the essentials of pet food nutritional value
We will provide you with accurate information on everything you need to know about the nutritional value of both brands in order to help you make an informed choice.
After you are done with this awesome comparison check out Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin here to see the different flavors and pricing.
Contents:
- 🤔 Blue Buffalo vs Royal Canin FAQ
- ⚖️ BLue Buffalo and Royal Canin Pros and Cons
- 😻 Types Of Pet Food
- 🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
- 💰 Price Comparison
- 🤤 Ingredients and Flavors
- 🏡 About Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin
- 🙀 Product Safety and Recalls through History
- 🏆 Blue Buffalo Vs Royal Canin: And the winner goes to…
🤔 Blue Buffalo vs Royal Canin 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 leads with at least 2% protein for dry canine food and 11.3% difference in protein for canine wet meals while Blue Buffalo also dominates with 3.04% difference in dry cat food and about 1.3% for wet cat foods.
Which is cheaper?
Royal Canin is more expensive than Blue Buffalo, whereas Royal Canin is still considered as one of the cheapest brands in the market.
Which of the products has more flavors?
Cumulatively, Blue buffalo has 339 varieties of wet and dry food for both dogs and cats as well as treats whereas Royal Canin has 266 flavors.
Which brand has more recalls?
Blue Buffalo has had more recalls to a total of 9 times while Royal Canin has been recalled 3 times.
Check out the current prices, recipes and flavors for Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin
⚖️ Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin Pros and Cons
Blue Buffalo Pros:
Blue Buffalo Cons:
Royal Canin pros:
Royal Canin cons:
😻 Types Of Pet Food
| Products | Blue Buffalo | Royal Canin |
| Dry Dog Food | 85 Recipes | 129 Recipes |
| Wet Dog Food | 101 Recipes | 35 Recipes |
| Dog Treat | 51 Treats | 5 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 40 Recipes | 53 Recipes |
| Wet Cat Food | 47 Recipes | 39 Recipes |
| Cat Treats | 15 Treats | 5 Treats |
| 😻 see all Blue Buffalo recipes | 😻 See all Royal Canin recipes |
In comparison, both brands have an extensive amount of food types for dogs and cats as well as treats. One can only tell which brand has more food type using a cumulative score.
🥕 Nutritional Value Comparison
The incentive behind choosing popular brands in relation to nutrition is not only to provide your pets with a palatable meal that they would appreciate and gleefully look forward to but it would also nourish and boost the immune system as well as mitigate possibilities of microbial growth.
The 3 main nutrients that play vital roles are protein (formed from combinations of amino essential amino acids), fat, and fiber.
food table of both brands dog food
| Royal Canin | Protein(wet) | Protein(dry) | Fat (wet) | Fat(dry) | Fiber (wet) | Fiber (dry) |
| Dog | 29.7% | 26.5% | 16.4% | 15.4% | 10.2% | 5.3% |
| Cat | 44.7% | 33.6% | 14.7% | 14.7% | 10.4% | 7.3% |
| Blue Buffalo | ||||||
| Dog | 40.4% | 28.5% | 25.2% | 15.0% | 7.5% | 7.1% |
| Cat | 45.4% | 37.0% | 24.7% | 16.3% | 8.2% | 6.4% |
| 🥕 See more Blue Buffalo info | 🥕 See more Royal Canin info |
As far as nutritional value goes, Blue Buffalo is seen to have an upper hand on both cat and dog food. Why is this particular nutritional content so special anyway?
We are all familiar with the concept of a “balanced diet” meal that contain all the essential vitamins, minerals and food components can be regarded as balanced.
For our pets, Dogs and Cats to be precise, they have specific nutritional structures which revolve around their basic animal requirements.
Protein
Proteins are building blocks for muscles and tissues. Dogs and cats are only able to synthesize half the amount of protein their bodies require.
The other half must come from their daily diet and this is why a high protein meal is required in order to keep your pet looking healthy and fit.
Fat
A healthy proportion of fat is necessary for the growth and development of our pets. Fats improve skin cells, fur coat, and aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins which play a major role in boosting our pet’s immune system.
Fiber
Pets will chew on just about anything. The importance of a proportionate dietary fiber is to ensure that our pets do not have episodes of digestive malfunction.
Fiber enables food digestibility, which is usually one of the most frequent health problems in pets.
💰 Price Comparison
Often times there is a need to keep track of how much that goes into our pet’s nutrition, or perhaps to compare the cost between one pet food brand or the other.
This can be a bit of a challenge if you are not familiar with the necessary metrics. Here is how to compare pet food prices;
| Dog Food | Blue Buffalo (dry) | Blue Buffalo (wet) | Royal Canin (dry) | Royal Canin (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.61 | $4.29 | $3.63 | $4.54 |
| Per calorie | $0.0016 | $0.0088 | $0.0022 | $0.0104 |
| CatFood | Blue Buffalo (dry) | Blue Buffalo (wet) | Royal Canin (dry) | Royal Canin (wet) |
| Per pound | $3.88 | $5.54 | $5.14 | $6.99 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0023 | $0.0112 | $0.0031 | $0.0192 |
| 💰 See the best Blue Buffalo prices | 💰 See the best Royal Canin prices |
Prices can be compared by calculating the average cost-per-pound (lb) of pet food or cost-per-calorie of pet food.
The most accurate metric is the cost-per-calorie (kcal) as the former may be affected by the presence of moisture. Cost-per-kcal eliminates moisture composition, rendering a more accurate value.
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
Blue Buffalo
Blue Buffalo provides a healthy, holistic diet with all-natural ingredients. It features a high-protein diet such as bacon, chicken, trout, salmon, turkey, and others.
Other ingredients are fish oils, potatoes, chelated minerals, and lifesource bits to improve health and vitality of pets.
Popular flavors
- Chicken and Duck
- Chicken and Trout
- Chicken and brown rice
Royal Canin
Its numerous ingredients add up to great flavors that are quite popular with pets. Ingredients include fish oil, chicken, wheat, pulp, peas, including vitamins and minerals and lots more.
Popular Flavors
- A natural approach to wildly healthy pets
- Jack Russell Terrier
- Mini toy indoor adult
Check out the current Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin
🏡 About Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin
Blue Buffalo
This brand started as a family business inspired by a pet. When the family dog started to experience health problems it was left to the owners to device a meal recipe to improve the health of their furry friend.
The owners of Blue decide that it would be best to handle this in a unique manner, feeding the dog with natural and quality food.
Fortunately, there was a huge market for pet food at the time. The brand categorizes pet foods by dog specialities such as Freedom, Wilderness, Life Protection Formula, Basics and Natural Veterinary Diet.
Royal Canin Information
Royal Canin which was established by a French veterinarian in 1968. He devised a means to tackle health issues which were mostly associated with skin and coat problems and so produced a cereal-based recipe, this proved successful. He went ahead to manufacture different foods flavors for pets which packed a lot nutritional benefits and provides them adequate protein to meet their daily needs.
🙀 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.
Blue Buffalo
Blue Buffalo has been recalled 9 times
- March 18th, 2017 – elevated beef thyroid hormone
- March 3rd, 2017- Foil Seal Packaging Problem
- Feb 14th, 2017 – the presence of aluminium
- May 31st, 2016 – Mold
- Nov 25th, 2015 – Salmonella
- Nov 6th, 2015 – Presence of Propylene Glycol
- Oct 8th, 2010 – toxic levels of vitamin D
- April 26th, 2007 – Melamine
- April 19th, 2007 – Melamine
Royal Canin Recalls
Royal Canin has had 3 recalls
- May 11th, 2007 – Melamine risk
- April 19th, 2007 – Melamine risk
- Feb 2nd, 2006 – high levels of vitamin D3
🏆 Blue Buffalo Vs Royal Canin : And the winner goes to…
On the basis of higher protein content, a cost effective option and what brand has more flavors we would recommend Blue Buffalo.
However, both brands are quite popular and have been a great source of balanced diet for millions of pets worldwide, so find that flavor that your pet simply cannot wait to feast on and let the good times roll.
| If you want | Then you should choose |
| Higher levels of protein | Blue Buffalo |
| A cost effective option | Blue Buffalo |
| A wider variety of flavors and ingredients | Blue Buffalo |
| Safety, based on number of recalls | Royal Canin |
| A balanced diet for all age levels | Both brands |
References:
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/royal-canin-breed-specific-adult/
