Vital Essentials Freeze Dried Cat Food, Raw Rabbit Mini Patties | Complete Meal or Topper | Easy to Portion and Rehydrate | High Protein, Grain Free Dry Cat Food | 8 oz Bag

Floki loved the taste of these patties, though he preferred them dry rather than wet, so I'll likely switch to the small nibs version. They break apart easily, no hassle there. They have a strong aroma that Floki loves, he always comes runnin' when I open the bag. They're expensive, naturally, so I feed them more as a topper/snack alongside his wet food.

A wonderful novel protein to add to your cats diet!! I feed my cats a rotation of several different foods and I like to mix goats milk powder with water and then crumble half a patty between my two cats to enjoy a couple times a week and they always go crazy for it! It helps me get a little more water into their system which is so important!

I was half expecting my girl to not like this entrée given that the rabbit treats she refuses to touch. I will say that she's currently seven months old so she may not have her adult teeth in. Treat which is nibs has a small bone in it. I only found that out rehydrating it. Now the patty is fine for my girl. It has ground, powdered bone in it so it's not bothersome for my girl. She immediately took to eating this and ate most of the serving in one shot. She normally grazes her food and takes entirely too long to eat a 3oz serving of any food. It didn't take long to rehydrate however I sort of cooked it a bit having used boiled water from my kettle. Patty turned into what looked like shreds to me. Originally I presented the patty broken up dry but my girl absolutely refused it that way. It's not a big deal for me as she eats Primal Instinct brand of dehydrated rabbit dry which is given as a kibble topper. Between Vital and Primal, for rehydrating Vital wins. Vital looks like real rabbit to me in that it maintains a pink like color. Rabbit when cooked shouldn't be any shade of deep brown or caramel. Primal adds coloring to their option which isn't he best for any cat. Both options is easy to break apart into smaller pieces. Scent wise, I personally feel that Primal is more fragrant dry. Vital's option was very fragrant when rehydrated. Price point wise, both brands is expensive. It's not the most cost effective. Despite the price my cat seems to be thriving on both options with a shiny, soft coat and extra energy. Also because this a raw product there isn't any gums included in the option. Her bowel movements have been normal log shaped and mild smelling. Wet foods with gums will always cause poor bowels and more smelly one. My girl just so happened to be sensitive to gums so I have noted the differences in her bowels when off gums vs given foods with them. Overall I definitely recommend Vital's freeze dried food. It doesn't have to be served raw as using boiling water or microwaving it cooks it. Either way, this is the closest to a real hunt my girl will ever have in her diet.

I've been feeding my two cats a variety of the Vitals freeze dried foods. It isn't their primary diet and I serve them each 1/2 a patty with their dry food (all rehydrated with water or bone broth/goats milk). They both love the rabbit and duck as they have sensitivities to beef/salmon/pork. It definitely is pricey, but if used in addition to your cats' diet it isn't so bad. The 3.75 oz bag will last my two cats about a month since I rotate their proteins so they don't get the one flavor every day. We also really love the toppers/treats from this brand and its all cheaper on Amazon compared to your local pet store.

I have been buying this for a long time, but no more. Once the patties are rehydrated with water the large, sharp pieces of bone become very evident. I pick them out before feeding, but they should not be there in the first place. I have called VE, as well as emailed them to ask about this, but no one replies to either. Switching to Stella and Chewy...

Man it’s expensive but man my cat loves this stuff! Great option for diabetic cats. After having him on this (and the chicken one cause feeding exclusively the rabbit is too expensive for me) for a couple months along with twice daily insulin shots, we went back to the vet for a day of blood sugar monitoring. Vet said his blood sugar was actually low! And that he may become pre-diabetic and be one of those lucky cats. You can feed this in a couple different ways. You can crumble up the patties and rehydrate with warm water. It will come out to a slightly chunky wet food consistency, so if your cat only likes pates this may not be good. My cat is extremely picky when it comes to wet food and he doesn’t like chunky wet food. So, the second option and what I do, is I crumble up a patty and let him eat it dry. I have to make SURE he has access to water and encourage him to get more moisture, but it works for us. I just have 32 oz cups in various places around our house becomause he prefers to drink from cups lol. Because it’s dry, it sticks to his tongue when he licks and therefore he feels like he can “lick it up” even though it’s not a wet food. He doesn’t like to work very hard for his food. Rabbit is a great protein option for cats with various food allergies as it’s less common to have an allergy to, and this product is just rabbit. So if your cat has, say a sweet potato or a lentil allergy, this food circumvents that. Please please please wash hands after handling it.

These are generally of good quality. We have had some issues with bones, but we just check it carefully. Compared to other products, these are one of our top choices.

My cat who doesn’t like any freeze dried food only enjoys this one!