Viva Raw Pets

Viva Raw Pets is based in North Carolina and specializes in providing raw food for pets, specifically dogs and cats. They aim to deliver high-quality, biologically appropriate pet food, including beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and fish, free from artificial ingredients and preservatives. Their ingredients are sourced from local farmers and suppliers in the USA; they focus on transparency and the quality of their foods.

Our primary focus will be on their beef products, their Complete Beef in both ground and chunky varieties.

Ingredients: 90% Humanely Raised Beef with No Antibiotics or Hormones*, 8% Organic Fruits & Veggies, 2% Natural Supplements

Beef, Heart, Kidney, Liver, Bone, Organic Carrots, Organic Cranberries, Organic Broccoli, Organic Green Beans, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Ginger, Organic Icelandic Kelp, Organic Flaxseed Oil, Cod Liver Oil Powder, Organic Wheatgrass, Vitamin E Supplement, Organic Shiitake Mushrooms, Green Mussels

Nutritional profile:

Crude Protein (min) 15.8%

Crude Fat (min) 9.3%

Moisture (max) 71.8%

Fiber (max) 0.4%

Energy is ~50 Kilocalories per ounce.

Is it Complete and Balanced? Viva Raw is complete, balanced, and formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for Adult Maintenance. Their products contain various whole foods and natural supplements to balance nutrients, including Protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids.

Weight and packaging of the product: Their meals come in two-pound packages packaged in vacuum-sealed bags to preserve freshness and prevent freezer burn. The bags are made of BPA-free plastic and are recyclable. I didn't mind the bags since I would open them and pour the meaty contents into a glass bowl. But if you are traveling, you must plan and thaw the food to repackage and freeze. The weight was accurate to the purchased amount.

Visuals of the meat: This meat looks great; you see no signs of oxidation and can see and recognize the whole food ingredients listed on the packaging. If I had to choose between the chunky and ground, go chunky! It is impressive to see the different sources of beef, and at times I doubted how good it looked; a piece would be too good to be meat, probably fat..and it wasn't at all. In addition to Beef, Yenko had Lamb, Complete, and Rabbit; all looked rich and fresh.

Taste: Yenko ate each meal without any hesitation! Even the rabbit with no beef mixed in success.

I kept that piece of "fat" to try because I just thought it looked so chunky with mixed textures that it couldn't be anything but fat...VIVA RAWS CHUNKY BEEF was the best dog food I have ever tried. I could eat it as is; it was tender and rich, and the meat used is of high caliber; the bones and organs were there, but it had such a juiciness that you would not care. Not fat. Slightly sweet and nutty with the mushrooms and other fruits and veggies. It is great!

But I am not a fan of supplementing: where do they source their Fish Oils, and what quality of vitamin E has Viva used? I suspect top quality, but I can't say for sure. Nevertheless, there are benefits, especially when traveling, since there is no need to add supplementation, whether whole foods or nutritional supplements; this is required in many other raw companies.

Poop: Over the moon, perfect! The color varied depending on the Protein given. No issues!

Price: $14.50 for a two-pound package

Delivery: Minimal order is ten pounds, and shipping is $15 flat.

Other things to Note: I also love that Viva Raw Pets does not use Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM), meat removed from the carcass with machinery, or High-pressure pasteurization(HPP). HPP is a cold-temperature method used to prevent food spoilage that applies high pressure to foods to manage bacteria. The process with HPP is the meat is packaged, goes thru the pasteurization process, and then opened, mixed, and repackaged..seems entirely irrelevant to reopen, but that's what some companies do, and the pressure is ridiculous, disrupting the cell membranes of microorganisms in the food and killing them. In addition, the meat's color and texture change making it completely fine-grind with apparently oxidized. It's great when you find a company that is as close to DIY raw as possible..even with supplements.

Viva Raw uses Grass-fed Pasture Raised Lamb, but their Beef is not. It can be a disappointment, and I understand. Yet, looking at it from a business standpoint, it's possible their Beef, which is humanely raised with no added hormones or antibiotics, is partially grass-fed, primarily when they work with so many farms. It's simpler not to promise that. Viva Raws' priority is to make their product as accessible as possible while never compromising the quality, which is very obvious when handling their products.

Interested in trying their food? Here's a link with 20% off