I wish I could say he loved it because the meal is so healthy for him but so far he has turned his nose up at every type Chicken, Duck, Rabbit and Turkey. I tried it raw, slightly warmed and cooked. Won’t touch it. It comes packaged well, looks and smells very fresh but he is not going for it. The product and service 5 stars, my cats reaction no stars.
Hi Denny! I'm sorry to hear that your kitty isn't doing well with the transition. Cats are creatures of habit so any dietary changes can lead to some apprehension and pickiness; we hear this often! I know you mentioned you have tried cooking it and warming it and didn't have success, but we have some other tips and tricks you may find helpful - I emailed those over to you if you are interested. Definitely keep us posted!
We have been feeding our cats Viva for just over a month now and have been very happy with the quality of the food. It is packaged very well and always arrives completely frozen. To top it off, all of our cats absolutely love the food and we have not had any problems introducing Viva into their diet. This includes my 16 year old cat that is the pickiest eater on the planet! He now prefers Viva to any other food, which says a lot! 🥰 Thank you from Thomas, Herbie and Sam.
After a ton of research into feline nutrition in an effort to solve two very different problems for two very different cats, the only solution I could come up with was raw. Shockingly, although I live in a big city, the number of pet stores that carry cat food that’s raw are very few. That being said, I stumbled on Viva raw and they are amazing. It’s not a subscription if you don’t want it to be. It’s not only chicken which the subscription services tend to be. And although there’s a moment where I think about Rudolph, the red nose, reindeer, my cats really loved the special reindeer they did last year. We stick with the things that they like I order as necessary and it’s perfect. The cats love it and in the space of I’m going to say nine or 10 months the bulk of that digestion problems have been solved. If you’re looking at nutrition, alone, raw is the way to go and the nice people here are fantastic.
I believed the hype that hard food was better at cleaning teeth so I had some concern that the soft food would require more dental maintenance. But Ivy had tartar on her canine teeth even with home care. So since that is disappearing, I have become a believer. So while raw food is more expensive than kibble, she won't need sedation, cleaning and the antibiotics. That's a win on multiple levels.
Very happy with the food and my dog loves it but Ontrac is a terrible delivery service. If you can’t ship with another company I’m going to be canceling future orders
I've been feeding raw for over 15 years and VivaRaw since shortly after they started a few years ago. It is THE BEST food I've found for my Golden Retrievers. I show and have multiple Champions. I usually take my dogs to the shows so they can room with me as handlers seldom have storing capacity for raw and that's all I want them fed! Great food and wonderful owners & customer service. Puppies start on Viva around 5 weeks of age and they love it, too.
I have two kitties I am trying to convert to raw, and it's been a struggle. I have not been able to use up my original order of Viva Raw, and in the interim, I moved from a place where I had a normal sized kitchen and normal freezer, into a 400 sq ft apartment with a CLOSET for a kitchen and literally no freezer space. Between the move, and with a mother in hospice care, I failed to cancel or delay my next order of Viva! This morning I saw the charge come through on my credit card and I panicked! I was at work in my medical clinic and couldn't place a phone call to the company, so I emailed and texted them immediately. I was then able to use their live chat. An agent came on with me and INSTANTLY responded by canceling my order and refunding my purchase to my credit card! I don't know why I expected a "fight," but I did: I think because customer service has declined in quality so much in recent years. This is what customer service SHOULD be like! Thank you, Viva Raw! I'll let you know when I've figured out next steps!
My cat already loves Rabbit, so I wasn’t surprised that she loved it. Unfortunately she doesn’t like the Duck and refuses to eat it. She also liking the turkey but again it’s not her favorite. I’ll continue to order rabbit here when her preferred store is out of stock.
My cats are so picky when it comes to their food, so I was a little nervous to try something new, but they loved it!
My pup loves his Viva meals, and I appreciate the high quality ingredients and naturally balanced formulas. Shipping has always been efficient, and everything has arrived safe and sound. Viva is a great company, and their love for animals and their commitment to high standards shines through. Thank you, Viva!
2 years ago my, at the time, 9yo GSD started having extreme stomach issues. After countless trips to a variety of vets with every test possible, hospitalization, a cocktail of different strong meds and prescription food; he was getting WORSE. I was finally told that he either had quickly progressing IBD or aggressive cancer, but they were out of tests and ideas.
No where else to turn, finally took the leap and tried Viva. All of his stomach issues almost immediately went away. Nobody can believe he's about to turn 12 because of his energy and athleticism. He can keep up with the 5yo dogs, easy.
I could never recommend Viva enough. I truly believe it saved my sweet boys life.
I really loved the different proteins they offer, and the ingredients are AMAZING,
EXCEPT FOR THE PROBIOTICS THEY’RE NOW ADDING. They’re unnecessary in a raw diet! They can get it naturally from tripe. I think the fda started pressing them because the company got bigger, and they found bacteria in some of their food. If they did flash freezing and other methods to avoid this, I don’t think they would have this issue. I’m with the other commenter who said probiotics cause all different issues, because they do. The research is out there guys!
I’m going back to making my own food. I loved how convenient this was, but my cats health is more important.
Plus homemade is a lot cheaper and you can control what you put in it. You can also make a months worth at a time.
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We understand your concern with our new addition of probiotics. I have emailed you some extra information on the topic if that would interest you! Overall, we have not seen any data linking probiotics to any negative health impacts and there are many studies showing 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. If you do have research articles that shed light on any negative impacts probiotics have on health, we are all ears and we are always looking for ways to improve!
As for your suggestion about other methods for pathogen control, we evaluated and tested numerous pathogen mitigation technologies over the past year for their effectiveness and impact on product quality. Although freezing halts & slows bacterial growth, it is not effective at eliminating pathogens. Overall, we found probiotics to deliver the best results in our products. We understand that you'd prefer to make your own food for your kitty and respect that completely!
I think I have tried just about every fresh food out there only to have it left in the bowl. Starting with Fresh Pet from the grocery store 4 years ago and making the rounds through all the different companies was frustrating and confusing. With the need to find a cooling novel protein, I discovered Viva Raw Rabbit. Now adding in Turkey and Beef, I have a nice selection of proteins that Ivy will actually eat every day. She is heavy from someone in the house giving her way too many snacks. So I am using the clean, high nutrition food to bring her weight back to normal. Thanks Viva Raw for all that you do for our pets.
I’ve tried quite a few different brands of raw food and they’ve never rejected Viva. My cats LOVE this food, even my pickiest will eat it! I really like the ease of ordering and the quick delivery. I’m always impressed by the look of the food even when frozen, it has a bright, fresh appearance. Thanks Viva!
The shipping would have been fine if only FedEx was on it but Viva went out of their way to get another order to me. My finicky cat loves it and gives me the look of "don't ever take this away".
What else can I say other than superior customer service way above than most...their products are amazing. I slightly cook it for 1 minute and refrigerate the rest as I have 2 cats and feed them the 1 pound 3x a day love the fact they are NOT facility that puts chemicals or unnecessary crap just 100% pure meat or, poultry
I have been using Viva Raw for a couple years now and I am very satisfied with the food. Several types to choose from and always frozen solid when it arrives! The customer service is amazing!
My very, very old ladycat was previously fed a raw diet. She had some abnormal labs and vet said she needed "renal diet". Fast forward to now. She was not thriving. She hated every renal diet. Basically was not eating, underweight, etc. I knew it was the diet. Bought some viva after watching jess caticles. All of my cats devoured it! Cacia, my little old lady basically would eat none stop on the viva if I let! She is eating and gaining weight, muscle and alertness back. Her coat is improving! I don't know what her labs look like yet, but to see her enjoying life and thriving again is a blessing!
I have been using Viva for my dog for almost a year now. The packaging is very easy to open unlike other frozen foods I have tried in the past. My dog gets 1¼ package per day and it's very easy to separate the food into fourths and it sort of reseals - enough to keep the food in place until her next meal anyway. I had some issues with FedEx delivering my food several days late and then leaving it in the hot sun before it got to me. Customer service sorted it out and I have not had an issue since. I really like this company
I bought several packages for my cat, however, the 1 lb pouches don’t make much sense. I’m not sure how to keep the package fresh while only feeding her 1/8 of the package at a time, while she’s getting used to the product. I tried separating them up and re-freezing but she won’t eat the re-frozen food. Perhaps small cans would be better for cats?
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! I'm sorry to hear that your kitty isn't enjoying the food that you portion and re-freeze. I emailed you some troubleshooting tips and some additional questions to find out why your kitty may not be enjoying the food that you've portioned out. I'll be on the lookout for your reply there. I've also shared your feedback regarding smaller packaging with the team as it is helpful for future improvements/offerings.
Both my Cavaliers have many allergies so VIVA ingredients are perfect for them. I gently cook the food because we had an issue with one of our dogs but the love it.
My cats enjoy Viva Raw Rabbit and the Duck. Cats can be a challenge to feed. But these two proteins are generally acceptable to my one adult cat and two 6-month-old kittens. The price is reasonable when compared to other companies. We love Viva Raw.