To leave a review you need to be logged in
Reviews 614
Melissa Twa
Apr 24,2022Years ago I was introduced to Darwin for my cats. Our new kitten took to it immediatly and the older cat eventually switched. The 4 year old kitty had come to use with mouth issues. Stomatitis was the possibility, and the fear was it would get worse and eventually he might need to have his teeth removed. I tried all kinds of tooth pastes and even oils I rubbed on his gums. When we switched to Darwin it wasn't long and I no longer noticed inflamed or bleeding gums. There is no proof, but it seems as if the diet really improved his mouth issues. It was so good that for about 4 years I didn't even think about his teeth much and no longer felt the need to brush his teeth. We checked occasionally, but his gums were healthy and teeth tidy! Then we had a medical issue with our younger kitty, and our pet budget was stretched to the limit. Vet bills had to be paid, and I canceled our darwin shipments. We began to feed combo of canned and kibble... reluctantly for about a year. A few weeks ago I noticed our older kitty acting like his mouth was sore. I looked, and his poor mouth was a mess of sore gums and caked on tarter. It was so bad. He needed to have his teeth cleaned and even two teeth removed. The cost for this was far more than all of our saved money not buying raw food. Our beautiful, sweet kitty won't be eating anything but darwin from now on. Again, I can't say with absolute certainty that raw food has made all the difference, but we sure had a lot of good years using it, and his mouth is looking good again after we have swiched back. It has only been a few weeks since the cleaning, but there appears to be no problems and no sore gums. Another thing is that he had been vomiting his food pretty often... As in many times a week. Since going on Darwin again, there have been a few hair balls gacked up, but his digestive system seems to be all sorted out again! Thank you!
Mary Cheney
Apr 24,2022I have a (now) 7-month-old kitten who should still be eating kitten food. Henry either loves something or hates it down to his bones - typical cat behavior. I didn't see kitten food as an option with Darwin's, but I selected Natural Selections (10 pounds of individually frozen, packaged chicken and/or turkey meals) because the ingredients ticked all the boxes that I thought a kitten should have. I also read somewhere that ground-up bone was actually beneficial for animals to eat. Honestly, using the internet, I even created a spreadsheet listing many brands with pros and cons for each. A lot of homework went into this. Darwin's won! It also helped that there was an introductory offer of $14.95 (normally $80.06) PLUS!!! a free Venison Jerky 4 oz Package if desired -which of course I accepted - all for $15.85 (included free shipping and $0.90 tax) if I signed up for one of those automatic renewals which are approximately every 10 weeks (look for the fine print). The order came quickly in the mail within 1-2 days, each individual serving nicely packaged in dry ice. The 1st time I was so excited to serve it to Henry, I thawed it in the microwave, which they actually recommend not doing. Nope, don't do that. It's meant to be eaten raw, like in the wild. I only meant to thaw out the block, but microwave ovens have a mind of their own when using the defrost cycle. So, I took a spatula and tried to separate all the cooked bits into itty-bitty pieces. With great anticipation, I presented this delicacy to Henry. It sat in his dish 6 +/- hours. It was like a dagger to my heart. I even got down on all fours and pretended to be eating it myself. Then I tried spoonfeeding because sometimes that works (yes, I'm crazy, anthropomorphizing). I even tried adding broth to it. Long story short (ha) Henry wouldn't eat it and I had to pitch it because it's poultry after all. Next experience a week later, I heated a new serving again, in a pan, just to make it fresh-kill temperature but uncooked. Nope. Guess he missed the connection spoon-feeding provides. So, besides making my garbage pail smell bad, no forward momentum. Ever an optimist, I tried again last night for his 5 pm feeding (with a week plus interlude between presentations). I tossed it again at 5 am this morning (yes, he has me on a schedule) and again served him his tried and true canned food instead. Ugh, the smell at 5am throwing out the uneaten delicacy is not conducive to crawling back to bed. Start the Keurig. So, in the interest of making my review even shorter (another ha) the preparation of Darwin's formula seems to be without question a great recipe, my cat just doesn't like it. Maybe I'll make hamburgers out of it. Meanwhile, Darwin's was quick to accept my cancellation of future shipments and I was quite pleased with their service and response time. Of course, I'll be reviewing the auto-charges on my credit card next month. Any ideas on what to do with the remaining weeks of food in my freezer is welcome (in case my husband finds his hamburgers tasting funky)?
Heather
Apr 01,2022I was worried about how well my cats would take to this food. They are committed kibble eaters. But they loved it immediately. 1 of my cats has kidney disease and has lost almost 2lbs in a year. We tried a lot of canned and dry kidney formula foods and he wouldn't touch them. He loves this food. I think we could actually get him to regain the weight the vet wants him to regain. He's also started to come out of the closet to spend time more with the family again, like when he was younger.
Adam Ralph Kossew
Mar 29,2022Thanks for providing quality dog food delivered on a flexible schedule. Must try
Steph
Mar 17,2022This stuff is excellent. I can already tell my senior kitties have way more energy and their poops smell way less gross. I started the slow transition as suggested but had to make a full transition after the second day because they stopped eating their science diet food and will now only eat darwins raw food. One of my cats has severe IBD and I am hoping this will help, but even if it doesnt its already worth it because of their energy and it being better for them.
Guy Noir
Mar 03,2022Update: It took approximately 1 week for Customer Service to respond. This came about the same time I posted this review. They did review the call and they did grant me the discount, although I had to follow up on it. They also informed me that I can ship the packaging back with the provided return label for recycling. I must say, I am genuinely disappointed in this company. The product is great, but the customer service and business processes leave something to be desired. 2 deliveries ago, I received a notification that my order was shipped and expected delivery was on that Friday. I planned to leave for vacation that Friday and expected my delivery to arrive. The food did not arrive that day before I left town, but I was confident it would arrive before dinner. At that point, I was completely out of food. The food did not arrive Friday, or Monday, or Tuesday...but Wednesday. This was a complete sh^t show for me as I was completely out of food and had a pet sitter. I was banking on the food delivery based on the message I had received prior. Had I not received this message, I would have found time to make a batch of cat food before leaving. Instead, my petsitter called me and had no idea how to handle the situation. Of course he grabbed what food he could find in the house, which caused all three cats to vomit all over the place as it was such a shock. So at that point I called customer service to discuss the issue. I was on hold for close to an hour before speaking to a human. At that point they offered me a 50% discount on the next order to make up for the "inconvenience". However, I never received a 50% discount, I got like 10 bucks off. Furthermore, I don't have an hour to spare to sit on hold to speak with you again to figure out what happened to my discount. Also, they cut deliveries close, or sometimes don't get it to you before you run out of the last delivery. There is no breathing room. I have on multiple occasions been on my very last meal when the food arrives. That is stressful.
Unsatisfied
Feb 20,2022Horrible experience!! I was out traveling and couldn't receive shipments, I called and was told they can't cancel even though it's not shipped out or packed yet, just because they can process and ship in a very short time. The customer service showed no sympathy at all, basically she just told me it's my problem and they are not going to do anything. I then asked to cancel all my subscriptions, and I was told they cancelled but the next month I'm still charged!!
Christina Pardo Brooks
Feb 18,2022Our cat has severe IBD. For 3 years he struggled with constant loose stool and diarrhea. Limited ingredient diets, prescribed food, nothing worked. I was taking him in monthly for B12 shots. I tried everything I could think of, and our vet was completely baffled about what to do. Our poor boy got skinnier and skinnier. I was panicking. I truly worried he was going to die. I read something about raw food and immediately went down the internet rabbit hole. I had a feeling something in the processed food, a preservative or something, was at the root of the problem. This led me to Darwins. It took him a while to get used to the food but within a couple of weeks, diarrhea had slowed. My vet warned me that it might just be temporary, but three years later I have a happy 11lb cat with no bathroom issues. I don't know what I would do without Darwin's food. You saved my cat's life. Now both our cats eat raw and we're going to transition our dog over as well.
Brandon Woody
Feb 02,2022I've followed the directions for introducing Darwins to my dog to the letter. She will not touch it. The only bites she initially tried, she threw up within 30 seconds. I tried to cancel shipping only to find out each shipment needed to be individually canceled. Extremely displeased and out of $$$.
Diane
Jan 31,2022So it took my cats a whole to get used to this food. But after a few days they started to like it. I wanted to try a cheaper canned food so I ordered that next instead. Big mistake. My cats won't eat ANYTHING other than Darwins. Even canned food that they have been eating their whole lives. They starved themselves for a whole week until I ordered Darwin's again. It was unbelievable. Also just got a new kitten and he can't get enough of this food. So I'm happy that they love it so much. Ill just have to pick up a second one job in order to afford Darwins for 3 cats LOL
Isabelle M
Jan 25,2022I am so happy that I gave Darwin a try! I have finally found the right food for my cats after researching for months and months, trying countless brands and types of food, and spending so much money! My youngest cat is allergic to chicken and that has been a big challenge because conventional cat food manufacturers put chicken in everything! For the first time, my cat's poop (yep, I said it) is healthy and doesn't smell! First time since I got him as a kitten over a year ago! And even my other much older cat is taking to Darwin. We are still in the transitioning process, but I am confident that I have finally found the food I will stick with. And it's cheaper than what I had been doing! You can't beat the combination of quality and price. Thank you Darwin!
Barley
Jan 17,2022It’s been an amazing transition. At first I was worried it wouldn’t be the right diet for my life style. He’s in amazing shape as we continue to train for our first half marathon. Thanks for providing quality dog food delivered on a flexible schedule.
Kassandra Burbach
Jan 04,2022BEYOND Disappointed in this company. I got an order in June and it didn’t go well and now my cat has passed. I thought I had canceled. It is Now January I have received a charge of of close to $150! I called immediately and there is NOTHING they can do. There is NO warning they will be charging you. I searched through all emails, junk the whole works to see if I was wrong after I was told they did last week. I HAVE NOTHING. Thank you sooooo much for all of your help in this already struggling time and now will have useless cat food to boot 👍👍👍 I do not recommend this company and their communication.
Wanda Thomas
Dec 13,2021My dog is diabetic and my holistic vet recommended the turkey based food. I have been using it for 3 years and my dog is very stable in weight and blood glucose. I've seen reviews about receiving bad products. I have to call customer service in the summer to ask for additional dry ice as our UPS truck comes here as the last stop of the day. They always take the extra step to make that happen. Their customer service is very responsive and open to any suggestions. I had a problem with a few packages leaking and I see now they have a new double seal on the packages and I have never had the problem again. They hold virtual sessions on various topics that are interactive and you can ask questions. They know a great deal about nutrition and whole foods. Can't say enough good about them!
Stephanie McClintock
Dec 10,2021My dogs' health has improved since switching to a raw diet. The packets are conveniently sized (225g each), and the shipping and deliveries have always been on point. They offer regular raw and organic raw, which I appreciate. You can also choose the protein type, or can mix them as well. I wish they would send emails alerting of the new shipment going out, but otherwise, it's been working well for us. I also find it cheaper than other raw alternatives.
Brian
Dec 02,2021I recently received another order from Darwin's and many of the packets of the food came either with tears, punctures, or freezer burn. This is 4th time this has happened. It is extremely frustrating and worrisome to me that the food always arrives damaged. Even worse the damaged food has cause my dogs to have an upset stomachs more than once already. This time one of my pups ended up having to go to the vet due to extreme diarrhea and vomiting where the vet diagnosed him with salmonella - which he associates with raw food. The vet bills alone caused by the damaged food cost me more than the food itself. So I reached out to Darwin's customer service and spoke with Scott Cleghorn who was no help. The first time I reached out he did not refund me for the damaged food and promised only to give me a discount on the next order. I accepted but on the next order the order was sent out on the wrong date and the discount that he promised was not applied. I reached out asking why the discount was not applied. He merely said he missed it. And worst of all, I received many more packets of damaged food again. At this point I did not want to order anymore Darwins, so I did not want to received credit. I reached out again, this time for a refund for the amount of the discount promised previously and for the damaged food from this order and to share my frustrations. I even shared photographic evidence in each of these cases of the damaged food. Again Scott was no help. I am very annoyed that customer service did not honor your promise of satisfaction nor assist me with a reasonable refund even though I consistently received damaged food order after order, which worst of all made my dogs ill.
Kitty
Nov 23,2021The foods are good quality, but I am not satisfied with the customer service. Can not even cancel orders, without talking with someone? My order is sitting in my Cart for days and NOTHING happened and Thanksgiving is in the corner and my cats left without a raw meal! I have to look for another supplier unless Darwin makes it up to me and to my cats. Not a happy customer. :(((( UPDATE/REPLY: I have contacted you through your websites and via email directly a few times. Still NOTHING!!!!!
Mabel
Oct 29,2021I am on a Facebook group that is in search of feline raw commercial food recommendations. From customer service, delivery, packaging and of course the raw food itself. I am a big fan of two other raw companies but as a group we are trying to expand our options. I contacted Darwin and asked them if I could purchase the raw food instead of signing up for the introductory deal of 10lbs. The customer service rep Scott Cleghorn informed me that I could place the order and he would make the modifications to the protein I mostly wanted in the introductory box... I foster 8 kitties (Most of which have special protein needs). I was so excited and placed the order within 20 minutes. I replied back to him w my order number. Next day he tells me he missed my email and the intro package was all ready fulfilled and shipped. Now I have way too much of one protein that I cannot use. What a waste of time and food and horrendous customer service. I will say this for them... their shipping was very fast (too fast that modifications could not be made) and the packaging of the raw is very easy to portion out, freeze and easy to open individual packages. All very high marks. I can not comment on the food itself since my kitties have not tried it. Update: Darwin made it right. Thank you for contacting me and offering a correction.
Toni
Sep 21,2021Darwin's agrees that they owe me $415.99, but they haven't refunded it in five and a half weeks and they haven't responded to my last two emails, one of which was in mid-August and one of which was in mid-September. It all started after I learned I could order a limited number of packages of raw meat cat food at a fifty percent discount, one time, for a second pet (meaning I would now be buying food for two pets, on subscription, instead of just buying for my original one.) I followed their instructions. They told me I had to place the order online as a subscription order, and to call them after I had placed the order. Then they would go into my account to manually adjust the price to reflect the discount. I called three times after I had placed the subscription order, because after each call, the discount was not showing up. Finally, I was told by a supervisor that, the day before shipment, she would manually apply the discount to the part of my order that was for the second pet, and that she would e-mail me to let me know the details. She said I would not see the discount reflected in my account until then. The day before shipment, however, she had neither given me the discount nor emailed me as she had said she would, so I changed the ship date to postpone shipment, in order to give me and her time to iron this out. I emailed her, and told her exactly what I was ordering and exactly what the order total was going to be, reiterating our agreement, and asked for her verification of that. She agreed but then did not follow through. She charged something totally different for my order than what had been agreed upon as the correct charge. (I was not given the discount.) On top of this, she placed an unauthorized order, that I did not order, manually adding this new order to my online account, charging my card for it, and shipping it out, as if I had placed it. It turns out that instead of applying the discount to the "second pet" order that I had placed, she ignored that order and manually placed her own "second pet" order for me, in my account. So I was now getting two of them instead of one. This is not according to how I had been told things should work, nor what I had been instructed to expect. A string of email correspondence bears this out. I called Darwin's about these things, and I was told to donate the order that I had not ordered. However, right off the truck all of the orders arrived having thawed meat and leaking blood. Each of the Darwin's shipments sent to me that week arrived off the truck in the condition of containing thawed meat, opened pouches, and leaking blood. I called Darwin's immediately after opening each box. Darwin's told me to not donate any of the cat food after all, and to throw all the "orders" of it away. ( I think I made a separate phone call for each box that arrived and each time was told to throw the meat away.) Darwin's wanted to send replacement cat food, at least for what I had originally ordered, but I declined due to fear that it would arrive thawed and leaking as before. Disposing of that much raw spoiled meat is stressful, stinky, & inconvenient. I wanted a supervisor to call me and tell me how this had happened and assure me of what measures would be utilized to help ensure the safety of future shipments. Not until I had this assurance would I allow any more raw cat food to come. Darwin's promised to refund each order, meaning refunding all my money back, albeit piecemeal (each box was dealt with separately), and I was promised a phone call from a supervisor to reassure me as to when I could safely buy more product. No phone call ever came. No refund ever came. It has been over five and a half weeks now, and I have not seen one red letter cent of my money. My last two emails have received no response. That is $415.00 of my money that Darwin's is sitting on. My formerly anorexic cat will not eat anything that is not raw meat cat food. (Darwin's cat food cured him of his anorexia.) I have had to scramble to find a replacement food for him, yet cannot afford it because Darwin's has my money. I wish that Darwin's had communicated with me accurately, clearly, and thoughtfully, had listened to me, had taken care to ship their meat with the dry ice, and had trained their personnel better. Thawed raw meat shipped in a hot Florida summer is unacceptable fare. This, so far, has been my experience as a new Darwin's customer, although there are other customers that have had only good experiences. I hope that COVID hasn't been the culprit in causing Darwin's difficulty in serving their customers. I hope they respond with my refund soon. I am not unforgiving but I need an explanation and I need my money back. UPDATE: Darwin's refunded my money in full within a few days after I posted this review. It is possible that COVID had something to do with what initially went wrong with my order.
Eriq Chang
May 05,2022Darwin's KIDNEY (Intelligent Design) & RENAL support food was the best RAW food that I've tried for my little girl. She is 22 years old and loving life as much as possible and this food has been a Godsend. It has been formulated with the BEST ingredients and I received the BEST care from Michelle in sales. Thank you Darwin's for such a well-researched and delivered product. I can tell how clean this food is. And how much my little girl is thriving because of it. We love it!