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Health Extension &
Vital Essentials
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Health Extension &
Vital Essentials
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Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
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35% OFF
Health Extension &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship
20% OFF
Health Extension &
Vital Essentials
First Auto-Ship w/ Code: PAWDIET20
15% OFF
Vital Essentials
For New Customers w/ Code: AFPAWDIET
Health Extension vs. Vital Essentials
In this comparison article for Health Extension vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare Health Extension and Vital Essentials, 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 Vital Essentials vs Health Extension comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our Health Extension Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.
Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. Health Extension
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.
Health Extension Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food
| Dry Dog Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 27.6% | 52.2% |
| Crude Fat | 16.5% | 28.7% |
| Crude Fiber | 5.1% | 4.1% |
| Wet/Canned Dog Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 40.2% | 53.7% |
| Crude Fat | 28.0% | 31.0% |
| Crude Fiber | 6.7% | 5.6% |
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 Health Extension. In fact, the difference between the protein content is roughly 24.52%, which is a significant amount. Similarly, Vital Essentials wet dog foods provide significantly more protein than Health Extension 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 (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 12.14% more fat than Health Extension recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the fat content of Health Extension and Vital Essentials. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials typically provides a little more fat (about 2.93% more).
Both brands provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Health Extension and Vital Essentials also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.
Health Extension Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food
| Dry Cat Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 38.6% | 54.0% |
| Crude Fat | 18.3% | 27.5% |
| Crude Fiber | 6.7% | 5.1% |
| Wet/Canned Cat Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Crude Protein | 54.6% | 50.6% |
| Crude Fat | 20.3% | 18.8% |
| Crude Fiber | 6.3% | 2.5% |
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 15.37% more protein than Health Extension. For wet cat foods, Health Extension provides more protein (about 4.02% more).
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 comparison table above shows that Vital Essentials dry cat foods provide significantly more fat than Health Extension. More specifically, Vital Essentials guarantees at least 9.20% more fat. For wet cat foods, Health Extension and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of fat.
As you can see, Vital Essentials and Health Extension guarantee a similar amount of crude fiber. For wet cat foods, Health Extension typically provides a little more fiber (about 3.83% more).
Health Extension Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients
Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Health Extension.
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 Health Extension.
Product Safety: Recall History of Health Extension & Vital Essentials?
According to our records, Health Extension has never been recalled.
Vital Essentials has been recalled 4 times.
- July 8, 2015: Listeria monocytogenes
- Jan. 15, 2016: Salmonella
- Feb. 24, 2018: Salmonella
- April 16, 2018: Salmonella
Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?
| Dry Dog Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $2.99 | $37.19 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0018 | $0.0186 |
| Dry Cat Food | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Per Pound | $2.74 | $39.03 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0016 | $0.0200 |
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 Health Extension or Vital Essentials, 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 Health Extension or Vital Essentials will depend on your shopping habits.
Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Health Extension and Vital Essentials. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.
- 20% Off First Auto-Ship @ PetFlow (Use Code PAWDIET20)
- 35% Off First Auto-Ship @ Chewy (No Code Required)
- 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 Health Extension Pet Foods
You can purchase Health Extension pet foods from the following stores:
Where To Buy Vital Essentials Pet Foods
You can purchase Vital Essentials pet food products from these retailers:
Type Of Pet Foods Available
| Product | Health Extension | Vital Essentials |
| Dry Dog Food | 15 Recipes | None |
| Wet Dog Food | 15 Recipes | None |
| Dog Treats | 19 Treats | 30 Treats |
| Dry Cat Food | 2 Recipes | None |
| Wet Cat Food | 13 Recipes | None |
| Cat Treats | 2 Treats | 8 Treats |
Top Rated Health Extension Recipes
Top Rated Vital Essentials Recipes
