natural balance dog food in stores

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

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Instinct vs. Natural Balance

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

Guaranteed Analysis: Natural Balance vs. Instinct

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.

Instinct Dog Food vs. Natural Balance Dog Food

Dry Dog Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Crude Protein	36.2%	27.6%
Crude Fat	24.1%	14.4%
Crude Fiber	4.4%	5.2%

Wet/Canned Dog Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Crude Protein	42.1%	39.7%
Crude Fat	27.7%	20.5%
Crude Fiber	10.0%	8.5%

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.

When you look at the average percentages of crude protein for dry dog food, it's clear that Instinct provides significantly more protein. On average, Instinct guarantees about 8.58% more protein than Natural Balance. For wet dog foods, Instinct typically provides a little more protein (about 2.39% more).

Crude Fat Comparison For Dog Food

Fats are an absolutely vital component of a balanced canine diet. Not only do fats provide energy, but they also serve important roles in the normal development and function of your dog's body. For example, fats help dogs produce prostaglandins, which reduce inflammation among many other significant functions.

The comparison table above shows that Instinct dry dog foods provide significantly more fat than Natural Balance. More specifically, Instinct guarantees at least 9.79% more fat. For wet dog foods, Instinct provides more fat (about 7.24% more).

Instinct and Natural Balance both provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber. With regards to wet dog food, Instinct and Natural Balance also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

Instinct Cat Food vs. Natural Balance Cat Food

Dry Cat Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Crude Protein	43.7%	36.8%
Crude Fat	25.4%	14.3%
Crude Fiber	3.7%	5.5%

Wet/Canned Cat Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Crude Protein	47.1%	46.7%
Crude Fat	25.0%	20.2%
Crude Fiber	8.6%	7.1%

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.

Our analysis shows that Instinct guarantees 6.86% more protein than Natural Balance dry cat food recipes. For wet cat foods, Instinct and Natural Balance 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):

Fats help with the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
Reduce inflammation associated with arthritis
Slow the growth of yeast infections
Prevent or reduce the likelihood of certain heart problems.
Aid in the development of the retina and visual cortex.

Instinct dry cat foods clearly provides more fat than Natural Balance. In fact, the difference between the fat content is roughly 11.05%, which is a significant amount. For wet cat foods, Instinct provides more fat (about 4.76% more).

There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands. With regards to wet cat food, Instinct and Natural Balance also provide roughly the same amount of crude fiber.

Instinct Pet Food Ingredients vs. Natural Balance Pet Food Ingredients

Instinct and Natural Balance both use the following controversial ingredients in many of their products:

Canola Oil

Canola oil is a plant-derived oil from the seeds of canola plants. Although fat is an essential component of any diet, canola oil is controversial in pet food. Proponents claim that canola oil provides a better fat profile in comparison to other plant based oils. However, opponents claim that canola oil is typically produced with genetically modified rapeseed and that rapeseed oil has multiple adverse health affects.

Pea Protein

Pea protein is produced by removing the starchy parts of peas. Pea protein is considered controversial because it provides a substantial plant based protein boost. This boost is undesirable because plant based protein is typically lower in biological value when compared to meat based proteins.

Tomato Pomace

Tomato pomace is a by-product of tomato manufacturing. It's considered a controversial ingredient because many people believe it is an inexpensive low quality filler. However, tomato pomace provides a notable amount of dietary fiber, B vitamins, Lycopene, and vitamin A. Although it is a very inexpensive ingredient, it is not nutritionally empty.

Dried Tomato Pomace

Dried tomato pomace is a by-product of tomato manufacturing. It's considered a controversial ingredient because many people believe it is an inexpensive low quality filler. However, tomato pomace provides a notable amount of dietary fiber, B vitamins, Lycopene, and vitamin A. Although it is a very inexpensive ingredient, it is not nutritionally empty.

Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

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

Garlic

Garlic in very small quantities can be an acceptable addition, however, garlic can also be toxic. Therefore many pet owners choose to completely avoid garlic.

Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid)

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by Natural Balance.

Giblets

Giblets may include the heart, liver, gizzards, and other visceral organs of an animal. These organs are very nutritious and species-appropriate for pets. However, the specific source of the giblets are not disclosed (chicken, turkey, etc) and therefore we must classify this ingredient as an anonymous meat.

Beet Pulp

Beet pulp is the by-product which remains once sugar has been extracted from sugar beets. The primary contribution of beet pulp is dietary fiber.

We'd also like to note that beet pulp is fairly controversial in pet food. Proponents claim that beet pulp can promote intestinal health and regulate blood sugar. However, opponents claim that beet pulp is an inexpensive filler.

Brewers Rice

Brewer's rice is the small fragments of rice kernel that are separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. The fragments do not contain the same nutrition profile of the whole kernel and therefore brewer's rice is a lower quality grain. Brewer's rice is typically regarded as an inexpensive and low quality filler.

Caramel Color

Caramel color is a concentrated form of caramel, a natural food colorant. Caramel color has been linked to cancer in laboratory animals. Since our pets do not care about food color, caramel color is an unnecessary addition with possible health risks.

Feeding Oatmeal

According to AAFCO, feeding oatmeal "is obtained in the manufacture of rolled oat groats or rolled oats". It contains "broken oat groats, oat groat chips, and floury portions of the oat groats." In other words, feeding oatmeal is an inexpensive by-products of rolled oat processing.

Poultry Giblets

Poultry giblets includes the heart, liver, gizzards, and other internal organs of poultry. Organs are nutritiously dense ingredients which provide high quality protein and fat. However, this particular ingredient is considered an anonymous meat ingredient because the type of poultry is not specified. In order words, "named" giblets such as chicken giblets or turkey giblets are preferred over poultry giblets.

We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health affects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.

Instinct and Natural Balance both use the following harmful ingredients in many of their products:

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex

Menadione sodium bisulfite complex is a synthetic version of vitamin K that has been linked to many health concerns. Research has suggested possible toxic reactions in liver cells and red blood cells among other serious problems. In fact, one large chemical supplier warns, "The substance is toxic to kidneys, lungs, liver, mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage."

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by Natural Balance.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex

Menadione sodium bisulfate complex is a synthetic version of vitamin K that has been linked to many health concerns. Research has suggested possible toxic reactions in liver cells and red blood cells among other serious problems. In fact, one large chemical supplier warns, "The substance is toxic to kidneys, lungs, liver, mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage."

Product Safety: Recall History of Instinct & Natural Balance?

Instinct has been recalled 2 times.

July 24, 2015: Salmonella
Feb. 15, 2013: Pieces of clear plastic in bag

Natural Balance has been recalled 6 times.

July 21, 2007: ofbotulinum toxin
May 4, 2012: Salmonella
June 18, 2010: Salmonella
April 27, 2007: Melamine
April 17, 2007: Melamine
July 3, 2020: elevated levels of choline chloride

Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?

Dry Dog Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Per Pound	$8.93	$5.23
Per Calorie	$0.0044	$0.0029

Dry Cat Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Per Pound	$11.49	$3.69
Per Calorie	$0.0057	$0.0023

Wet Dog Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Per Pound	$6.31	$6.27
Per Calorie	$0.0107	$0.0137

Wet Cat Food	Instinct	Natural Balance
Per Pound	$8.87	$7.63
Per Calorie	$0.0179	$0.0183

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 Instinct or Natural Balance, 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 Instinct or Natural Balance will depend on your shopping habits.

Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for Instinct and Natural Balance. 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 Instinct Pet Foods

You can purchase Instinct pet foods from the following stores:

84 Recipes In-Stock Today

59 Recipes In-Stock Today

67 Recipes In-Stock Today

17 Recipes In-Stock Today

Where To Buy Natural Balance Pet Foods

You can purchase Natural Balance pet food products from these retailers:

96 Recipes In-Stock Today

79 Recipes In-Stock Today

83 Recipes In-Stock Today

16 Recipes In-Stock Today

Type Of Pet Foods Available

Product	Instinct	Natural Balance
Dry Dog Food	37 Recipes	39 Recipes
Wet Dog Food	10 Recipes	27 Recipes
Dog Treats	None	33 Treats
Dry Cat Food	20 Recipes	16 Recipes
Wet Cat Food	16 Recipes	43 Recipes
Cat Treats	None	None