Our Food
What’s in the bowl matters. In this section, we break down how Viva meals are made—what goes in, what stays out, and how we keep things fresh, safe, and perfectly balanced for your pet.
🧪 Production & Formulation
What are the benefits to feeding raw?
Feeding your pet a raw diet can offer a variety of health benefits that many pet parents notice within 4-12 weeks after making the switch. While every...
Who formulated Viva's recipes?
Our recipes were developed with the guidance and expertise of some of the most respected professionals in animal health and nutrition. Our experts in...
Do Viva recipes meet AAFCO standards?
Yes! Viva recipes are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO, depending on the species and life stage. Our cat recipes are fo...
Can I cook your food?
Yes, you can gently cook our recipes—we recommend gently sautéing over low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes or only until it's just starting to brown. A ...
🌱 Ingredients & Sourcing
Where does Viva source from?
We're proud to be sourcing high-quality, USDA-inspected meat from smaller farms. These are the same farms that stock your local grocers & favorite res...
Is Viva Organic and Hormone/Antibiotic-Free?
While we do not claim that our recipes are organic, our poultry and meat are always humanely raised (verified by third-party audits) and are free from...
Is Viva human-grade?
All Viva ingredients are human-grade. However, we can’t call our food “human grade” because the term technically doesn’t apply to raw food. To determi...
Why do you use seed oils?
Both humans and pets require omega-6 fatty acids for good health, but the modern human diet often contains an imbalance of these essential fats due to...
What is MSM, and is it used in your recipes?
MSM stands for 'Mechanically Separated Meat'. It's produced by machines that squeeze carcasses and frames under extreme pressures to remove any leftov...
Are any dyes added to your food?
We don’t add any dyes to our food! Our recipes are made with high-quality, whole ingredients that maintain their natural color and integrity without t...
🧼 Food Safety & Quality Control
Safe Handling Tips for Raw Food
Feeding a raw diet can be safe when proper food safety measures are followed, both during production and at home. While raw meat may require a few ext...
How do you ensure your raw food is safe?
Food safety & sanitation is always our #1 priority. Our multi-layered approach begins with sourcing the highest quality USDA-inspected meat and ingred...
How do I thaw Viva properly?
Thawing Viva safely ensures your pet gets the most nutrition from every meal, without compromising food safety. Here’s how to do it right: ✅ Refrigera...
What is High Pressure Processing (HPP) & how does it work?
High-Pressure Processing (HPP) is a food safety technology that uses pressurized cold water chambers to inactivate harmful microorganisms. It is a wel...
Why HPP?
Here at Viva, we believe in making each batch of our food better than the last. This means we’re always taking a data-driven approach to evolve our fo...
How effective is HPP?
Our validation studies in Viva recipes showed that HPP achieved more than a 99.999% (over 5 log) reduction in major foodborne pathogens. For referen...
How did Viva test HPP before implementing?
Any technology we consider for our products undergoes an extensive review process, and HPP is no different. During the evaluation process, we compared...
Does HPP damage nutrients?
No. High pressure is extremely effective at breaking weaker chemical bonds (hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions) important to overall cell functi...
Does HPP destroy good bacteria?
We found that HPP does reduce overall bacterial levels, including both harmful and non-harmful microbes. However, our testing showed that naturally ...
Does HPP make fats go rancid?
No, HPP did not increase fat oxidation in our products. We evaluated lipid stability using peroxide value (PV) testing , which measures the earliest ...
Does HPP affect enzyme activity?
HPP may affect some naturally occurring enzymes in raw meat, but this does not have a meaningful impact on how dogs and cats digest or benefit from th...
Does HPP increase plastic leaching?
No, HPP does not increase plastic leaching between food and its packaging. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) identified temperature—not pressu...
Are there different methods for killing pathogens in raw food?
The raw pet food industry uses various pathogen mitigation technologies, from bacteriophages and acid washes to High Pressure Processing (HPP). We've ...
Is it safe if my order arrived thawed?
Yes! As long as the food still feels cool to the touch, it’s safe to refreeze and use. Most customers find that simply feeling the packaging is enough...
How long does Viva last in the fridge after thawing?
We recommend using our product within 2-3 days of thawing in the refrigerator for freshness. If you have a smaller pet, you can always thaw our 1 lb p...
How long does Viva keep in the freezer?
All of our products have a “best by” date printed just to the left of the label, which lets you know exactly when that package should be used by. In...
Why does the color and texture vary?
The color and texture of our recipes may naturally vary due to factors like ingredient sourcing, seasonality, and processing methods. Because we work ...
📊 Nutritional Analysis
For Dog Recipes
We believe in complete transparency about what goes into your pet’s bowl. Below, you’ll find downloadable PDFs with the full nutritional analysis for ...
For Cat Recipes
We believe in complete transparency about what goes into your pet’s bowl. Below, you’ll find downloadable PDFs with the full nutritional analysis for ...
Pure Recipes
We believe in complete transparency about what goes into your pet’s bowl. Below, you’ll find downloadable PDFs with the full nutritional analysis for ...
🍽️ Balancing Pure Recipes
Are Pure Recipes right for my pet?
If you have a dog & are new to raw, we always recommend starting with our balanced recipes for dogs . If you have a cat, we recommend starting with o...
Adult Dog Recipe
If you're looking to balance our Pure Recipes to AAFCO standards, the easiest option would be to use a pre-mix like Dr. Harvey's Raw Vibrance (1 d...
Allergy-Friendly Adult Dog Recipe
To balance our Pure formulas to meet AAFCO standards for an adult dog, the key nutrients you'd look to supplement are Manganese, Iodine, Vitamin D, ...
Puppy Recipe
If you're looking to balance our Pure Recipes to AAFCO standards, the key nutrients you'd look to supplement for your puppy are Manganese, Iodine, ...
Allergy-Friendly Puppy Recipe
Below is what we recommend adding to our Pure Recipes for puppies to minimize potential allergy triggers. The key nutrients you'd look to supplement...
Adult Cat or Kitten
To balance our Pure Recipes for cats or kittens we would recommend the recipe below. For every 1 lb of Viva, add: 1 scoop of Kelp Powder - the NOW...