Vital Essentials Duck Dinner Patties Grain-Free Limited Ingredient Freeze-Dried Cat Food, 8-oz bag

We have purchased this Vital Cat duck previously and our picky cat seemed to like it so I purchased again. This recent bag though seems a different meat quality and has many small round hard bone bits and also long thin tendon like pieces. Cat would not touch it. This one was reported to Chewy who nicely refunded promptly.

I’m certain the rabbit version of this freeze dried food saved my cat and my sanity so we were excited to start trying other versions. Duck seemed to be the logical next choice given our cat’s allergies. And he loves it, probably more than the rabbit. The bowl is licked clean each time. However we did notice that when preparing the duck version there are quite a few bits of sharp bones and such. Which given what I know about ducks and eaten duck before, duck is just a naturally boney meat. We just make sure to pick it out for the cats. Overall, for health and taste this is great. Prep is a bit more tedious but still worth it.

I got these for my fancy little boys to enjoy as an occasional treat crumbled over their kibble. They went nuts over them as soon as I opened up the bag. I was less thrilled, because these are extremely, incredibly stinky. I use gloves to crumble them up inside a sandwich bag, and I still have to wash my hands thoroughly to get the stink off. That was very important recently, when it was so hot, my poor kitties didn't want to eat for a couple of days. They were getting lethargic, and I was getting worried. I crumbled up a patty, just to see if they were interested. As soon as they smelled it, they dove on top of their food for the first time in days and became their old selves in no time! If I got these for my fancy little boys to enjoy as an occasional treat crumbled over their kibble. They went nuts over them as soon as I opened up the bag. I was less thrilled, because these are extremely, incredibly stinky. I use gloves to crumble them up inside a sandwich bag, and I still have to wash my hands thoroughly to get the stink off. That was very important recently, when it was so hot, my poor kitties didn't want to eat for a couple of days. They were getting lethargic, and I was getting worried. I crumbled up a patty, just to see if they were interested. As soon as they smelled it, they dove on top of their food for the first time in days and became their old selves in no time! If you have a kitty who is having a hard time eating, consider feeding them this stinky food. It grabs their attention and holds it, and it makes their fur glossy and soft! … more

My cats love duck in other foods, but absolutely would not touch this. Took a sniff and walked away. I rehydrated them as they are used to extra moisture in their food. Gave them a couple hours and none of them would go back to it. I put the bowls outside for the strays but they wouldn't eat it either. I am sure it is not the quality of the food, but it seems l wasted my time and money on this.

This was not a hit. It was a total miss. Not even a bite was taken. While my cat loves the rabbit, I thought I’d try another flavor. It was a waste of money.

Tried the turkey flavor first and my cat almost took my hand off trying to get to it so I figured I'd try the duck. Another big hit! My kitty prefers this dry, broken up a bit. Tried adding water and while she eventually ate it, she much prefers it dry. YMMV

This is the first time I have purchased this product. Two of the three cats loved the food. I was not sure of the duck as they always eat chicken. I will purchase in the future. The only drawback was finding slim pieces of bone and a larger bone the size of a quarter. I did not like that. The cats enjoyed the flavor.

I have three cats, only one of them is fine with the food from VE.

since starting her on this all skin sores from allergy have disappeared and immediately she preferred this to all other specialty foods tried over last 8 years

my cat loves this more than other frozen food. she will eat a lot