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The short answer: Raw Boost wins. Instinct Raw Boost scores A/90 to Instinct Original’s B/78 — a 12-point gap between two formulas built on the same base. Both lead with chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, menhaden fish meal, and peas, and both include a probiotic. Raw Boost adds freeze-dried chicken, chicken liver, and chicken heart, plus salmon oil, dried kelp, and blueberries; the Original’s raw coating is freeze-dried pollock.

The scores

Instinct Raw Boost: A (90/100)
Instinct Original: B (78/100)

Twelve points. That’s the gap between Instinct’s premium Raw Boost line and its standard Original formula: Raw Boost reaches the A tier, while the Original sits in the B tier.

How the ingredients compare

Here are the first five ingredients side by side:

Raw Boost: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Peas

Original: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Peas

The first five ingredients are identical — same proteins, same order. Both formulas build on a strong animal protein foundation with chicken as the primary whole-meat ingredient backed by three concentrated protein meals: chicken, turkey, and menhaden fish. Both are grain-free and both add probiotics. Raw Boost lists freeze-dried chicken, chicken liver, and chicken heart deeper in the ingredient list; the Original’s raw coating is freeze-dried pollock, listed after the vitamins and minerals. The base formula is clearly the same recipe with Raw Boost layering on a few targeted additions.

Where Raw Boost pulls ahead

Salmon oil for omega-3s. This is the most meaningful upgrade Raw Boost offers. Salmon oil delivers preformed EPA and DHA — the marine-sourced omega-3 fatty acids cats need but cannot efficiently synthesize from plant sources. These support skin health, coat quality, brain function, and inflammation management. Instinct Original relies on chicken fat and its fish meal for fatty acids but lacks a dedicated omega-3 oil supplement.

Dried kelp and blueberries. Raw Boost adds dried kelp (a natural source of iodine and trace minerals important for thyroid function) and blueberries (antioxidant-rich). These are small additions by weight, but they reflect a more complete supplementation strategy. Neither appears in the Original formula. Shop on Amazon →

What the two share

Essentially the same nutritional base. The first five ingredients are identical, and both add probiotics. The 12-point gap comes from further down the panel. Shop on Amazon →

The bottom line

Instinct Raw Boost wins, A/90 to B/78 — a 12-point gap between sibling formulas that share their first five ingredients. Raw Boost’s extras — salmon oil, kelp, and blueberries — are genuinely good ingredients, and the salmon oil in particular is a meaningful omega-3 upgrade for cats with skin or coat concerns. Read our full reviews of Instinct Raw Boost and Instinct Original for the complete ingredient breakdowns.

Corrected 2026-10-19: we removed claims we could not support; we corrected factual errors, and grades and score comparisons that did not match our current scores.