Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Vs Science Diet
Since my dog was a puppy, he has thrived on Blue Buffalo. Recently however, his vet had given him a sample of Hill's Science Diet. Read my observations in this comparison of two excellent dry dog foods, Blue Buffalo vs Science Diet: which is better?
The brands I compared
1. Blue Buffalo Natural Adult small breed, chicken and brown rice
My dog really likes the taste and smell of these bite-size kibbles. He loves them so much that I also use them as treats.
Blue Buffalo points out that the first ingredient on their list is "real meat." In this case, it is deboned chicken, which in the case of dog food, might be considered a marketing gimmick. Either way, my dog likes it, and he has excellent digestion and overall health.
small breed boasts deboned chicken
along with 26% protein
photo by Doug Martin
2. Blue Buffalo Natural Adult healthy weight, chicken and brown rice
This Blue Buffalo dry dog food has a little larger kibble, and my small chiweenie has to chew more. Otherwise, it is similar to the other brand above, but with a little less protein.
I purposely wanted the larger kibble for my little dog. The extra chewing required will also help clean my dog's teeth.
healthy weight includes chicken
with 20% protein
photo by Doug Martin
3. Science Diet dry dog food, adult, chicken and barley recipe
When I brought this sample bag home from the veterinarian, my dog could not stop sniffing. He loved the smell, even with the unopened bag.
Based on his behavior so far, I believe he prefers the taste and smell of the Science Diet kibbles over the Blue Buffalo brands. However, that is an unscientific observation, based solely on his behavior.
By the way, chicken is the first ingredient on the list, just like with the Blue Buffalo brands. However, it is not called "deboned", which may or may not be a good thing.
So far, though, he loves the Science Diet, and has had no digestion problems.
also includes chicken as a first ingredient
along with comparable vitamins,
antioxidants, and minerals (20.5% protein)
photo by Doug Martin
Competition between dog foods is fierce
In the corporate battle between dog foods, competition is fierce. More competition means better dog and cat foods for our pets. And better products means corporations will generate more revenue from repeat business.
Despite their humble beginnings, large corporations own both Blue Buffalo and Hill's Science Diet brands today.
Blue Buffalo is owned by General Mills
Blue Buffalo, which had been founded in 2003, was bought out by General Mills (stock symbol GIS) in 2018 for about $8 billion. After the change in ownership, I noticed no difference in the quality of their dog food.
From my point of view (and my dog's), the quality remained consistent, and my dog (Vincent) continued to enjoy good health, with no digestion problems.
One change I did notice is that I was sometimes able to buy Blue Buffalo dog food at a lower price after the buyout. In the case of Blue Buffalo, I believe corporate ownership made their products slightly more affordable.
Hill's Science Diet is owned by Colgate
In 1976, the Colgate-Palmolive Company (stock symbol CL) bought Hill's Pet Nutrition, which developed the Science Diet line of pet foods. My dog absolutely loves the smell and taste of the sample bag of dog food he received from his vet.
In the past, I had started my previous dog (Lucky) on Science Diet when he was a puppy way back in 2003. His veterinarian had recommended this dog food brand back then, and they also sold it.
The problem started (if I remember correctly) in about 2005. Lucky (he was a 12-pound chihuahua) started having digestive and allergy problems. It was then that I switched him to another brand (Purina?), and he did much better.
Since then, I have never gone back to Hill's Science Diet. But since my current dog, Vincent, loves the sample bag he received so much, and since it hasn't caused digestive problems so far, I will buy this brand again.
I am not a veterinary nutritionist
As I compare the two Blue Buffalo brands with the one Hill's Science Diet brand (all described at the beginning of the article), I am doing so not as an expert! In other words, I am not a veterinary nutritionist.
Instead, I am a loving pet owner who wants the best, most nutritious pet food for my four-legged friends. In addition, I also want to make sure my pets love what they eat. Plus, I want their food to not give them digestive problems.
My experiences with Blue Buffalo
Overall, my dog Vincent has enjoyed excellent health with his Blue Buffalo dog foods. For instance, he has rarely had an upset stomach, and has rarely spit up or thrown up food. In addition, he has rarely had diarrhea.
To add variety, I feed him the two types of Blue Buffalo I described above. All varieties of the dry Blue Buffalo foods for both dogs and cats also contain LifeSource Bits.
are the pellets that look like
rabbit droppings. They contain
extra vitamins, minerals, and supplements
and are mixed with the regular kibble.
photo by Doug Martin
Good and not-so-good aspects of LifeSource Bits
—The good…
According to Blue Buffalo, LifeSource Bits are smaller, darker kibbles that contain important vitamin, minerals, and antioxidants to protect our pets throughout their entire lives.
For instance, they contain omega fatty acids, vitamins C, E, and K, and even B12. In my own case, I take those supplements each day to boost my immune system and keep my mind and body as healthy as possible.
—The not-so-good, a lack of consistency…?
The problem with the smaller LifeSource Bits is that when I feed my dog, he gets an inconsistent amount of those smaller kibbles for each meal. Sometimes, there are no LifeSource Bits when I portion out his meal.
Other times, I might scoop out a more-than-average amount of those vitamin-laden kibbles. I wish there was an easy way to ensure my pet gets a consistent amount of those bits of vitamins and antioxidants.
In general, I've found that when I get to the bottom of the bag, there are more LifeSource Bits. What I believe happens is that during shipping and handling, the smaller kibble bits settle to the bottom of the bag!
That lack of consistency is what I consider the biggest weakness with the Blue Buffalo dry pet foods. I wish that instead of LifeSource Bits, Blue Buffalo would instead include those nutrients in the normal kibbles. That way, the nutrients would be consistent.
My experiences with Science Diet
The last time I used Science Diet was way back in 2005 (approx.), as I noted above. I had fed my dog, Lucky, Science Diet in his first two years of life. He thrived.
Then, he started having digestion and allergy problems that I suspected came from his food. So I switched brands, and he was better. Since then, I ave avoided all Science Diet products.
—Most vets recommend Science Diet
My change in attitude toward this dog food came when my current dog's veterinarian recommended he try Science Diet. He agreed that Blue Buffalo had good qualities, but he felt Science Diet would deliver better results for my dog.
In fact, every veterinarian my pets have had in both New Mexico and Arizona have recommended Science Diet. Of course, they also sold that brand in their shops, so maybe that's why they pushed the brand.
My hope is that those professionals still gave unbiased advice, no matter what their financial incentives might be. And by the way, since veterinarians are running a business, they are also entitled to make a profit.
—My dog loves the scent and taste
So, I tried the sample 2-pound bag, and both my dog and I were happy. My dog loves the scent and the taste of the Science Diet chicken and barley variety.
—Comparable ingredients lists
From what I could tell, the list of ingredients looked very similar. As I noted before, I am not a veterinary nutritionist, and am not an expert on pet food ingredients.
The only way I can evaluate pet foods is to read and compare their ingredient lists, as well as compare their nutrient percentages.
From my untrained eye, the ingredients and nutrients were comparable.
Blue Buffalo small breed food has 26% protein
—My unscientific taste test
of Blue Buffalo kibbles and one group of Science Diet.
Then, I called my dog to eat and watched which brand
he would gobble down first!
photo by Doug Martin
Blue Buffalo Small Breed kibbles.
photo by Doug Martin
kibbles, he quickly finished them off
before going back for the rest
of the Blue Buffalo.
photo by Doug Martin
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Blue Buffalo vs Science Diet:
which is better?
While my dog loves Blue Buffalo and Hill's Science Diet, I have one major problem with the dry Blue Buffalo foods. My problem revolves around the smaller-kibble-size of the LifeSource Bits.
Through shipping and handling, those nutrient-enriched bits settle to the bottom of the bag. That means that my dog gets a smaller-than-normal amount when I first open the bag, and a larger-than-normal amount as he finishes up the bag.
That lack of consistency with the LifeSource Bits is why I now prefer Hill's Science Diet. My dog loves the scent (I like the scent, too, it smells good). But he likes the taste even more.
And when I did my unofficial taste tests and put both Blue Buffalo and Science Diet kibbles in a bowl, my dog usually finished up the Science Diet kibbles first.
While my dog loves the taste, I feel more secure that the nutrients in Science Diet are more evenly dispersed in each kibble. My hope is that he will get a more consistent dose of nutrients with the Science Diet kibbles.
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