I have a dog with digestive issues and VIVA has been the best thing for him. Customer service is always exceptional when I need them.
My cat is very sensitive to food and has only successfully eaten prescription rabbit food. We feed her small amounts about every 2 1/2 hours to keep her from regurgitating.
We had another cat that did well on raw but could eat any meat. When I discovered rabbit was available I was curios to see if my cat could handle it...and hopefully heal enough to be able to eat larger amounts without regurgitating.
She has been on this diet for two weeks now and is 3/4 raw 1/4 prescription and we still have to feed her small amounts but she is able to go longer times between meals. I believe the raw is satiating her appetite.
There was a challenging start. She is hyper sensitive to smells. Every day when I come home she has to smell where I've been so she can record new smells. She refused even the tiniest raw mixed in her food. I eventually found success by sprinkling a small amount of prebiotic on top. By the fourth feeding she gad accepted it and by the sixth, she was looking forward to it.
She has all the positive signs of a cat eating raw. When she is ready to eat she wants ut NOW and us quite vocal and impatient about it. I love the progress that she has made and hope she eventually will have a more regular eating schedule.
Let me SPEAK TO A FREAKING HUMAN!! I want EVERYTHING cancelled! I can't figure out how to work this f'ed up system, and you WON'T LET ME SPEAK TO A HUMAN, SO I'M O U T !!!
I'm sorry that you are feeling frustrated with us! We are always happy to chat with you! We have several ways of reaching us, some are a bit quicker than others for us to respond to you. We offer a text message option, a chat feature on our website, & email. If you prefer a call just leave us a voicemail and we'll get back to you as soon as possible! We did just try to give you a call a little bit ago and left you a voicemail; I've also emailed you if you would like to follow up with me there.
My cat loves this food and empties the plate every single time. She’s much better off since I choose to give her Viva raw chicken. It’s expensive but worth it
I have two Goldens who are picky! Very picky and they clean their plates with this raw food.
Yes, I ordered the Viva, instead of The Pure, got $36.00 for my next order. Teo is already on OC raw, which he eats, has Kelp, that he is sensitive too. Viva has kelp, like so many other good dog food. Viva pure has just meat, that can be cooked. Well I tryed feeding it to him, raw, cooked, he took a sniff and took off. I think it has too much liver that he does not like. Anyway more money down the drain, will not reorder. I don't understand why you have to buy so much the first time, not knowing if your dog will eat it. Companies should allow you to buy one package at a time.
We have a minimum order requirement to ensure that the packages arrive to you in good condition. With that being said, we do offer a 30-Day Clean Bowl Guarantee on first time orders. You had reached out to us prior to this and we had let you know that we were not be able to honor the Guarantee for your order with us as you had stated that you were not able to feed the recipes purchased and ordered them in error since Teo is allergic to kelp. We have our ingredients listed on our website for each product so that if your pet has a sensitivity to anything you would be able to double check on that prior to ordering. With that we did offer a courtesy credit for you to re-order the Pure Beef as you had intended. I have emailed you a follow up to this as well if you would like to chat more!
Delivery quite take time.
My cat doesn't like it. He can not finish it
Also, food turning blue easily for about 2 days, then my cat does not eat it. I need to throw it away cuz it is fresh, I need to go back to Darwin
I'm sorry to hear that your kitty isn't liking Viva! We know that kitties can be picky so we've gathered all of our best tips and tricks to help with the transition, I have emailed those over to you. If they don't end up working out, we offer our 30-Day Clean Bowl Guarantee on your first order with us! As far as our delivery schedule goes, we ship orders on Monday through Wednesday and the transit time varies based on your location between 1-3 days from the day of shipment. Orders placed between Wednesday and Sunday are shipped the following week. In the email with the tips and tricks, I have asked some more questions in regards to the food turning blue as that is not something we have heard of before and would like to gather more details!
Been feeding Raw Viva for quite some time.
My dog stopped, enjoying the raw, and I called them and they said gently gently cook it ! not hot . not high heat!
That solved the problem!
My dog runs warm in the stomach, so I feed her duck rabbit and beef combination and it seems to be perfect
Viva always gets it right!
Perfectly packaged always frozen!
No hiccups ever. Thank you so much, Raw Viva
The ingredients are the best and the email customer service was very helpful. My dog loves the rabbit diet
I am beyond relieved and thankful for finding Viva! I have 2 of the absolute pickiest eating pups, I’m certain has ever lived. They are both owner surrender rescues from my local pound, and I’m uncertain of what they were fed prior to my adopting them. But whatever it was made it literally impossible to keep them nourished the way they need to be. I am not exaggerating in the least when I say I tried every brand and every type of food I could possibly think of with no success. Until I saw a YouTube video of a gal giving her picky cat, Viva. She explained her cat was picky and was lightly cooking it to get her cat to eat it. Considering my 2 would only eat cooked meat, and very few other things…. and only on occasion…. I decided to give it a shot with Viva. To my absolute shock and JOY they both devoured the lightly cooked beef. My baby girl prefers it over the chicken and Turkey… but my boy loves them all 3. We are trying duck next to give her more of a variety. Regardless… Viva has been an absolute Godsend and I’m so thankful for the company and their products!! My only regret is that I didn’t discover Viva much sooner!! This fur momma breathes easier with Viva in my freezer!!
I've got two cats and they love Viva. They love it and it keeps them full longer. They're happy and their fur is glowing. They don't smell. Their litter boxes, especially, don't smell. Their fur is soft and fluffy. They're happy with Viva raw and if they're happy, I'm happy. If you can afford feeding your cats raw, you should do it without hesitation. It's worth it, as long as your kitties are healthy and don't have dietary restrictions.
I loved Viva especially Rabbit for dogs, Rabbit for cats, and Rabbit pure. I convinced 4 other friends to become Viva customers. We liked Viva because it did not have synthetic supplements like most pet foods. Now all 5 of us are leaving Viva because they started adding probiotics.
Probiotics can cause bowel issues, increased heart rate. Probiotics can also cause infections in the heart's inner lining or heart valves. University studies have shown gut health returns to normal faster with no probiotics than those who took probiotics.
All 5 of us plan to have pets for the next 20 years so Viva is losing 5 loyal customers x 20 years of business by adding probiotics. Jen if you are reading this please reconsider the across the board adding of probiotics. Some of us in the group of 5 that are leaving are medical doctors who know the potential problems/dangers of adding probiotics to daily food. If you decide to go back to your previous recipe with no probiotics please let me know. At this point there is not a Viva option without probiotics so we will be switching to a frozen raw company that does not add probiotics.
Would you consider selling a batch without probiotics? We collectively could place an order for several thousand dollars- buy out an entire run of rabbit and freeze a years supply. Wishing you the best! Sincerely, Tim
Hi Tim,
We appreciate you reaching out and sharing your concerns. Here at Viva, we believe in making each batch of our food better than the last, which means we’re always looking at the latest research & discoveries to evolve our approach to food safety and provide higher-quality products for your pets. We have not seen any data linking probiotics to any negative health impacts and many studies show positive health effects with probiotic use! That’s why we believe the probiotics in our food are unlikely to negatively affect your pet’s gut health even with long term use. We would love to learn more about the information you have found regarding probiotics and their negative impact with daily use as well as their link to bowel issues and heart health concerns. Can you share those studies with us? You can reply to the email that I sent following up with you on this! We don't have an option as of now for product without the added probiotics as it is now part of our robust pathogen control procedures to ensure food safety.
We have several cats so I wasn’t sure if they'd all be on board, cats are very cautious eaters, but nope, they all loved it.
Their plates were clean !
My first time ordering... my package for cat and dog foods arrived on time, well-packaged and frozen as it should be. I do, however, wish the serving sizes were smaller portions to avoid waste. Unfortunately, I can't get my Australian Shephard, my 5-month old kitten or my 10 year old cat to go for it. It seems like such a great product and highly recommended but, even with the light searing as suggested, they just won't eat it. I'm wondering what they smell that they don't like because the dog and the kitten will already eat raw hamburger and beef cuts and that's why I thought they'd love it.
But I'll keep trying with maybe some steaming to lightly cook it because I had to throw out 2 packages already (over the 3-day fridge freshness time) and I'd like to use it if I can.
Puppy loves the food much less poop as promised. Much brighter an active. Losing a bad cough we have been dealing with for months. It's getting better every day. Thank you we will be ordering on a regular basis.
After much research on which company to use for raw food, I found Viva. It took my kitten a few days to acclimate to Viva’s food as he wasn’t used to the new smells or tastes, but he loves it now. I’m glad I chose Viva because it’s so relieving to know that my kitten is getting all the nutrients he needs while eating. Before I decided to buy, I reached out with a few questions and Viva’s customer service responded really fast and were very helpful. Unless I create my own raw diet for my kitten, I’m definitely buying from Viva again.
This kitty raw food deserves a 10+ !!
I have tried a LOT of raw, in several “forms”… Viva is human grade, humanely raised, in USA, and you can SEE the quality as soon as it arrives!
My kitties LOVE it from the very 1st try.
I am now a subscriber.
I would like to take this time to thank Viva Raw for their caring, and wonderful customer service.
Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to my girl, Roxanne, unexpectedly 💔 I also had a delivery from Viva arrive. I contacted Viva to let them know of my situation. Viva refunded my payment no questions asked. The food was still delivered as well. I want everyone to know how compassionate this wonderful company is❣️I am donating the food.
Thank you so very much, Viva Raw❣️You warmed my broken heart❣️
I placed an order yesterday, 09/24/2024 at about 10:14pm. I work nights so most things I have to do get done at night. About 2-3 hours after placing the order I decided to cancel the order due to checking out some of the other reviews. Paying this much for cat food and seeing some of the one star reviews made me change my mind. Did not want to risk wasting money. When I went back to my order the option to cancel was still available. I received an email stating that the business was closed and they would get back to me. On 12:58pm the next day I received and email stating that my order was already picked up for delivery. I checked the order status again at 4:45pm when I got up to get ready for work and have attached the picture of the order and it saying that it has not be fulfilled. I do not understand how the order was out for delivery and unfulfilled at the same time. I also do not understand how it was giving me the option of canceling if it was already fulfilled. I truly feel that they just did not want to lose out on the order. The total was for $87.00. Again I just feel as though the option to cancel (especially only 2-3 if not less hours after being placed) should not have been offered. Also since the next late afternoon it was still saying that it was unfulfilled. Just does not make sense.
I am sorry to hear that you had this experience and that we were not able to cancel the order for you. We've attempted to contact you via phone twice and have left a voicemail, we would be happy to discuss our policy further and clear up any miscommunication! Our turnaround time on orders can be very short sometimes depending on when orders are placed in the week. Customers can place orders at any time, including outside of business hours. With this, there is a chance that we're not able to see the request and edit or cancel the order before the order has been packed and processed. As for the 'unfulfilled' status you were seeing, that status does not update until the order has been scanned properly by the carrier and it will then switch over to a 'fulfilled' status for when it is in transit, it isn't a reflection of when the order has/has not been prepared to ship by our warehouse team. When an order is prepped to ship we can no longer cancel or edit orders.
It seems that the only way to contact this company is through messengering. It was somewhat painful. I always spend $400-$700 each order because my cats like the food. But a company who deems it unnecessary to actually communicate with their customers, isn’t worth my business.
I'm sorry that you feel this way about our customer service. I went back through to your last correspondence with us and when you had messaged us via chat we were able to cancel your order for you as you had requested. We do have other methods of contacting us if you prefer! You can call, text, or email us if you prefer one of those methods instead of our chat feature!
I got a Main Coon last week and the breeder gave me a partial pack of Raw and I cut into small sections to add to her dry food, I feel this product is a perfect balance to her diet, She loves it and her eliminations are normal and NOT stinky, I have raised cats my whole life and I found that quality food is very important to an animals overall health, It's so pure and easy to introduce your fur baby to it's yumminess. The company was fantastic in keeping me informed of the order process, from getting my order, the packing, and the shipping, which is nice, I was able to make sure someone would be able to get it into the freezer if I were not home. I was lucky to be home when it was delivered and I was impressed how well it was packed, Was pretty much still frozen or semi frozen, I will continue to give my baby soon to be babies RAW, Thank you team for making sure our fur kids are happy and healthy.
I’ve been feeding raw all my cat’s lives, and I’m glad to have Viva Raw as a source for high quality raw food. They didn’t go for the rabbit, but that’s not surprising. In general, rabbit has always been tricky to feed.
I do wish it were a little less processed. The food I get from another raw food company, Souly Raw, has this great, chunky, chewy texture, and it’s clear my cats love to chew! That’s what they would be doing in the wild.
I think you have a chunky option for dogs. Perhaps you could consider offering that for cats too? And I wonder if it might travel better. The food defrosts awfully fast. Most of the bad reviews are about orders that thawed prematurely.
But thank you! It’s a great food, and I’m about to place my next order! You can see the positive results of raw feeding in my cats’ glistening coats.
The food is great but there’s absolutely got to be change with this shipping schedule! Charging premium prices for food and shipping while making us wait absurd wait times with little to no updates is just not sustainable when feeding a life!
Here’s a more polished and accurate version of your review:
I tried Viva Raw cat food for my cats, but unfortunately, it didn’t work for us. My cats don't eat their entire meal all at once. They’re on a schedule where they eat every 12 hours, but I can't always be there exactly on time to serve the food and remove any leftovers after 15 minutes, as the instructions suggest. Additionally, my cats like to come back and nibble over the next few hours, so this system just isn’t suitable for them.
Nowhere on the website or in the sponsored YouTube videos did it mention that I would need to be home at every meal and monitor their eating for 15 minutes to put away the rest. This wasn't clearly communicated, and because of this, the trial box ended up being a waste of money for me. I won’t be ordering again.
Hello there! I am sorry to hear that Viva isn't a good fit for you and your kitties! Unlike a kibble or other processed food that contains preservatives that allow it to sit out safely at room temperature, a raw fresh diet requires a bit more time sensitivity for it to be eaten or put back in the refrigerator if not eaten due to its perishable nature. This reduces the risk of bacterial growth as any fresh food left out at room temperature for an extended period of time can become unsafe to eat. Many cats can learn to finish their meals in a shorter time period, but if they are used to a more 'free-fed' type of feeding method it can take some time to change their habits. If this interests you, we are more than happy to offer some tips & tricks. Feeding a raw diet is not for everyone and we understand if it is not a good fit for your kitties and your preferred way of feeding them though!
My first order of Viva arrived as promised-frozen hard.
Our pup loved it and we were happy to have found a quality product.
However, Viva only ships on a part time schedule. It takes 3 days from New Jersey to Minnesota. This can result in a long wait before shipment and, with delivery days, a week to get food.
Our second order did not fare well. One package in the box was damaged, so it leaked blood thru the box bottom, and then into our wool carpet after we took it from the FedX driver. The two ice packs were totally melted and empty of water. The 10 pounds of food was thawed.
We needed replacement by today (Monday) to avoid long distance travel for an alternative. Viva could not ship until today, even under emergency circumstances they’d created.
Needless to say, this doesn’t work for us.
And, we needed to pay to dispose of the product.
Hi there,
I am sorry to hear about your experience with your most recent order. Unfortunately, damages and delays sometimes occur during transit with the carriers. We always try our best to reach a resolution to help when these situations arise, however, we do have a shipping schedule set forth by our warehouse that we have to adhere to. Our warehouse ships out orders Monday through Wednesday each week to ensure that orders are not held up over the weekends. Because it was Thursday when you reached out to us, we were unable to make any special request with our warehouse for shipment as they do not allow us to make same-day shipping requests and they are closed on Fridays. This, in turn, resulted in the following Monday being the soonest we could get a replacement order shipped to you, unfortunately. We understand that this was an inconvenience to you and we processed your refund as you had asked instead of setting up the free replacement. Again we are sorry for the inconvenience this caused.