Blue Buffalo Dry Cat Food Ingredients

What Kinds Of Cat Food Does Blue Buffalo Offer

All of Blue Buffalos follow a natural blueprint, but that doesnt mean there isnt plenty of variety. Blue Buffalo has six different cat food and kitten food lines.

For dry cat food, there are the original BLUE, BLUE Freedom , BLUE Basics limited-ingredient foods, meat-rich BLUE Wilderness, and BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet, which is only available through veterinarians. Blue Buffalos newest dry food line for cats is Blue True Solutions which is designed to address specific health needs.

Blue Buffalos wet cat foods are available in the same six product lines, including traditional cat foods, veterinary diets, and the new Blue True Solutions line of health-specific products.

Nulo Dog Food Vs Blue Buffalo Dog Food

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 6.31% less protein than Nulo dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Nulo and Blue Buffalo. In addition, Nulo wet dog foods also provide more protein than Blue Buffalo 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 :

• 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

The table shows that Blue Buffalo provides far less fat than Nulo. The difference in fat content is roughly 4.31%. In addition, Nulo wet dog foods also provide more fat than Blue Buffalo wet foods.

Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Blue Buffalo and Nulo also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

How Much Does Blue Buffalo Cost On Average

Blue Buffalo is a pretty affordable cat food brand, especially considering the quality of ingredients used.

Blue Buffalo dry food products average 22 cents per 100 calories, while wet food products average 96 cents for the same amount.

However, theres a wide gap between the cheapest and most expensive Blue Buffalo lines.

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What Types Of Cat Food Does Blue Buffalo Offer

The current product lines for cat offered by Blue Buffalo include:

• Blue Freedom a line of grain-free products.
• Blue Wilderness meat-rich, high-protein formulas.
• Blue True Solutions natural formulas designed to support specific needs such as digestive care, weight control, and skin and urinary health.
• Blue Kitten Recipes meat-first recipes specifically formulated for kittens .

Purina One Vs Blue Buffalo

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

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Blue Buffalo Healthy Aging Dry Senior Cat Food Review

Protein: 32.0% | Fat: 15.0% | Fiber: 5.0% | Moisture: 9.0%

Blue Buffalo is excellent at creating affordable cat foods that contain astonishingly high-quality ingredients. Their Healthy Aging dry food is another grain-free formula thats packed with real meats at the number one ingredient.

As cats age, appetite can become an issue. With Blue Buffalos Healthy Aging dry, its very unlikely your cat will turn away. Their Enhanced LifeSource Bits are dark chunks of cold-formed kibble that are packed with goodness, making for an appealing bowlful rather than a non-descript pile.

Were highly impressed with this formula, and we arent alone. At the time of writing, Chewys reviews section shows that 97% of reviewers would recommend this food thats a staggering amount.

Nulo Cat Food Vs Blue Buffalo Cat Food

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.

Our analysis shows that Nulo guarantees 6.95% more protein than Blue Buffalo dry cat food recipes. In addition, Nulo wet cat foods also provide more protein than Blue Buffalo 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 :

• 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

According to our average data, Blue Buffalo typically provides less fat than Nulo. However, this difference is relatively small and doesn’t represent a significant difference between the two brands. For wet cat foods, Nulo and Blue Buffalo provide roughly the same amount of fat.

As you can see, Nulo and Blue Buffalo guarantee a similar amount of crude fiber. For wet cat foods, Blue Buffalo typically provides a little more fiber .

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Ingredients In Blue Buffalo Blue Freedom

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Potatoes, Pea Starch, Chicken Fat , Turkey Meal, Pea Fiber, Tomato Pomace , Flaxseed , Natural Chicken Flavor, Alfalfa Meal, Potato Starch, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Garlic, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Turmeric, Oil of Rosemary, Dried Chicory Root, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate , Riboflavin , Niacin , d-Calcium Pantothenate , Pyridoxine Hydrochloride , Biotin , Folic Acid , Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate , Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Yeast , Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product

The Catological Verdict On Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dry Cat Food

From top to bottom, this is a below average dry product.

Meat is the first ingredient, but fillers make up a large portion of the recipe. If you include all pea ingredients as one ingredient, its almost certain they would be the first ingredient.

The macronutrient contents of these foods are just OK, but not ideal.

This is a not a good example of a dry food you should be feeding to your cat.

Based on the ingredients and the macronutrient profiles, meat and plants are probably present in equal proportions, so we can therefore say its not necessarily a strictly meat-based food.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 44% protein, 20% fat, and 22% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 42%, and average fat content of 18%, and an average carb content of 26%.

Compared to the other 2000+ foods in our database, this food has:

• Average protein.
• Average fat.
• Above average carbs.

Because meat comes first, but fillers are plentiful, our average rating for this brand is 2 stars.

Not recommended.

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Harmful Ingredients Commonly Used In At Foods

Added color There is absolutely no reason to included added color into any cat food, ever. Its extremely disappointing to see this ultra-low quality ingredient included. Added color is used for marketing purposes only. They want their product to stand out sitting on the shelf at the store, so they add coloring to their product. Essentially, the coloring is added to entice YOU to purchase the food over other brands. Your cat could care less what color the food is. Unfortunately, added color is quite controversial as there is growing evidence suggesting cancer in cats from too much food color exposure. At worse, this is a harmful ingredient and at best, it is a marketing ploy with no nutritional value or positive benefit to your cat. We usually have a tough time recommending any cat food that includes such a controversial ingredient.

Many ingredients labelled as natural preservatives are thought to cause health issues in cats as well, but they are considered a much better option than artificial preservatives. Due to the nature of the manufacturing, shipping, and storage processes related to cat food, most cat food will contain some preservatives to increase shelf life and reduce the chances of bacterial growth.

Guaranteed Analysis: Blue Buffalo Vs Acana

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 adry matter basis.

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How Much Does Blue Buffalo Cat Food Cost

Compared to other brands positioned as super-premium and natural, Blue Buffalo is relatively inexpensive. For example, if you have a 10-lb cat who needs about 200 calories per day, Blue Buffalo Freedom canned food will cost you around $1.40/day.

That makes it just a little bit more expensive than budget brands like Friskies and Fancy Feast.

Caloric Density And Feeding Guidelines

3,695 kcal/kg, 399 kcal/cup

Real meats and high-protein content often drive caloric density up, but at 399kcal/cup, this Healthy Aging retains a modest caloric density. Given the need for fewer calories in older cats diets, this is great. A modest caloric density means theyll feel full up despite eating just enough to maintain a healthy weight.

Blue recommends feeding between 1/4 and 1/2 a cup daily to cats between 5 and 9lbs in weight and between 1/2 and 1 cup daily to cats between 10lbs and 14lbs.

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Blue Buffalo Cat Food Recall History

We do not believe that a recall indicates a low quality food or company, and we respect the fact that sometimes things happen that cause a manufacturer to recall a food.

Usually these things are non-life-threatening, and we think its important to take a moment to be thankful about just how few recalls there really are in the industry, considering the enormous volume of food produced.

However, we do believe that a history of recalls may point to a larger issue with a company, and that discerning consumers want to know who theyre buying from, especially when it comes to something as important as the food you feed your beloved cat.

Here is a list of recalls that have affected the Blue Buffalo brand in the past:

• Potential high levels of beef thyroid hormone 1 recipe affected
• Potential alluminum contamination 1 recipe affected
• Packaging quality 2 lines of dog food affected
• May 2016 Potential mold 1 recipe affected
• Potentially contains propylene glycol 1 cat food recipe affected
• Potential for salmonella 1 recipe affected
• Potentially too much vitamin D 3 lines of dog food affected
• Melamine Most recipes affected
• NOTE ON LAWSUIT A class action lawsuit was levelled against Blue Buffalo in 2017, alleging high levels of lead in their products. This is working its way through the legal system, and these allegations are not proven.

An Overview Of The First Five Ingredients

Deboned Chicken

Chicken is a very popular ingredient for pet food and in this case, they are referring to whole chicken with the bones removed. This is a very high quality meat source and we are pleased to see it listed. In dry cat foods, whole chicken loses about 80% of its content during the cooking process. This is because chicken consists of about 80% moisture. After the cooking process is complete, the amount of whole chicken remaining is substantially reduced. However, in wet cat foods the cooking process is a bit different so this is much less of a concern.

Chicken Meal

Whole Ground Brown Rice

Oatmeal

This ingredient will provide some fiber for your cat, but for the most part, it is simply used as a filler to help make your cat feel more full. Many cats seem to enjoy the taste of oatmeal and since there are no major health concerns associated with it, this ingredient makes for a great alternative filler ingredient instead of using corn and grains.

Whole Ground Barley

With barley being a starchy carbohydrate, it supplies healthy nutrients such as fiber to the cat. Barley also gives your cat sugar level stability. Ground or pearled barley is produced from whole barley seeds that have been scoured to remove the seed hull and bran. This is a common ingredient in weight control pet foods due to its slow digestibility, starch, and soluble fibers.

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Blue Buffalo Dog Food Reviews

Lets jump in and take a look at Blue Buffalos dog foods by age. There are multiple formulas, largely based on life stage, and also based on breed size. Their antioxidant-rich life protection line and a limited ingredient line are two of their most popular food lines.

Their Wilderness line is usually the most popular. All their food has Lifesource Bits, which are dark kibbles with a blend of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. The kibbles are cold-formed to retain the potency of their ingredients. Fruit and vegetables are some of the whole source ingredients in these bits.

Why We Love It

• REAL MEAT FIRST: Blue Buffalo dry cat food always features real meat as the first ingredient. High-quality protein from real chicken helps your cat maintain strong muscles. Plus, it contains wholesome whole grains, garden veggies and fruit.
• FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Our weight control cat food is made with an optimal blend of protein and calories to help your cat achieve and maintain an ideal body weight. Plus, it contains omega 3 & 6 fatty acids to promote a shiny coat and healthy skin.
• WITH LIFESOURCE BITS: This formula contains BLUEs exclusive LifeSource Bits® a precise blend of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals carefully selected by holistic veterinarians and animal nutritionists, to support immune system health, life stage requirements, and a healthy oxidative balance.
• NATURAL CAT FOOD: BLUE dry cat food is formulated for the health and well-being of your cat and features the finest natural ingredients enhanced with vitamins and minerals. It never contains chicken by-product meals, corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors or preservatives.

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Is Blue Wilderness Dry Cat Food Best For My Cat

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Blue Wilderness is one of the most popular high-end cat foods on the market. The Blue Buffalo brand developed out of necessity when the maker’s dog, Blue, got ill with cancer. When researching diets that promote dogs’ longevity, they found that many dog food makers use chemicals and pesticides, and they wanted to provide better food than what was available.

This family recipe then turned into a whole brand, but is it really what they make it out to be? We’ll dive into the nitty-gritty, discussing the cost, ingredients, and real ratings from unbiased pet parents like you.

Overall Is Blue Buffalo A Good Choice

Blue Buffalo cat food is popular and well-loved, but its far from perfect nutritionally or in terms of quality. Where they really excel is in price and variety.

Most Blue Buffalo cat foods contain considerable amounts of plant matter. Worse than the brands reliance on plant-heavy recipes, Blue Buffalo has been recalled multiple times during the last decade. These incidents suggest deficits in quality control and transparency from Blues suppliers and manufacturing partners.

Blue Buffalo, therefore, isnt one of our favorite cat food brands to recommend to pet owners. If youre going to feed your cat Blue Buffalo, we recommend choosing a canned food formula that is rich in animal protein and moisture with limited added carbohydrate content.

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Guaranteed Analysis: Blue Buffalo Vs Nulo

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 adry matter basis.

Acana Dog Food Vs Blue Buffalo Dog Food

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 6.52% less protein than Acana dry recipes. This difference in protein content is a notable difference between Acana and Blue Buffalo. In addition, Acana wet dog foods also provide more protein than Blue Buffalo 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 :

• 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

The table shows that Blue Buffalo provides far less fat than Acana. The difference in fat content is roughly 4.45%. In addition, Blue Buffalo wet dog foods also provide more fat than Acana wet foods.

Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Acana and Blue Buffalo also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

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