He’s gone.

And just like that.... he's gone.

At precisely 2:21 pm PST Tuesday, Levi took his last breath.

I don't want to know life without Levi-- though now I have to.

I've spent the last day or so going through pictures and videos from the last 13 years.

I wonder if he ever realized how massive a space he took up.

His heart, his warmth, his gentle spirit, his goofiness....

I always felt safe when he was with me- no matter where I was.

I have so many videos of him busting out a song, and the rest of the dogs chiming in. It always felt like a bonding, ceremonious thing with them. Ronin was standing beside me when I played one of them, and broke out into the most melancholy sounding song.

Once again, life feels empty. Absolutely empty.

Levi's taken a huge piece of me with him.

Life... and my heart.... will simply never be the same.

As you may or may not know, Viva Raw dog food recently rolled out a recall for their Turkey and Puppy recipes in Lot #21244, as they tested positive for Listeria.

My pack and I recently relocated from Washington, DC to SoCal, and my boyfriend and I blended packs. His 2 Huskies, and the 3 dogs left in my crew (my 13 yr old gentle giant and "mixed with awesome" fella', Levi / 11 yr old Wire Haired Dachshund, Franklin/ and 2 yr old American Indian Dog, Ronin). 

We're still a bit raw from the last few years, as we'd just lost 3 of our treasured pack members to age-related things (Chip: 12 yrs- Aussie Shep. mix, Todd: 16 yrs- Min Pin/ Chi mix, and Raiyna: 16 yrs- American Indian Dog).

I've long been feeding Answers Pet Food, and started incorporating Viva Raw into the mix last year.

My boyfriend's Huskies wouldn't eat Answers, so they strictly ate Viva Raw.

My guys bounced back and forth between Answers and Viva Raw.

A few days after we received notice of the recall, one of our dogs started having round-the-clock diarrhea. Then another dog. Then another, along with vomiting.

I threw the remaining food away, and Viva refunded us for the orders. They also graciously covered the costs for cleaning our rugs and carpets. Ronin and Levi were the only dogs that had not been affected; and I was praying it would remain that way.

Not soon after, my precious Levi was diagnosed with bone cancer. I was praying he didn't contract this given his delicate state... but last Friday, he started having round-the-clock liquid diarrhea and vomiting. I was out with him 8 times last Saturday night.

We had a vet come to our home this past Tuesday to conduct an assessment. We shared what was going on, and she could see the mass on his leg was more than double the size from just 3 weeks ago.

I have no idea if what Levi was experiencing was connected to what the other dogs just went through or if it was strictly cancer related; but it was too much for him to overcome. He was lethargic, he couldn't keep any food down, was exhausted, and in a great deal of pain.

It absolutely killed me to let him go. Absolutely. Killed. Me. It's still killing me. But the vet gently explained it was in his best interest given all he had going on.

So, now. My beautiful, sweet, gentle giant is no longer with us. 13 years of a beautiful life... and goodbye came faster than what I was prepared for. A life without him is unfathomable. Simply unfathomable.

We checked the Lot numbers of the food, and it wasn't from the Lot number that was recalled.

We had different Lot numbers:

Lot #21524 - Turkey

Lot #21454 - Duck

We also had Beef and Chicken, but I threw everything out before I even thought to get the Lot numbers.

A friend's dog, who also eats Viva Raw, has just started having really bad diarrhea, as well. These are the Lot numbers she had:

Lot #21524 - Turkey

Lot #21434 - Turkey

Lot #21364 - Beef

Lot #21574 - Chicken

She tried contacting Viva Raw about this and was told they've "received no other complaints", and - basically- wrote her off. I made a post in a canine health focused group that a friend of mine runs, and have been learning of others who this has happened to. 

One woman wrote to me and said, "My dogs were affected by the February recall but I didn't have recalled lot numbers. They pretty much blew me off at Viva when I reported it. GI wise my dogs rarely have upsets. One of my dogs was really sick with black water like diarrhea for 5 days. I thought I might lose him, and one was mildly sick. One of my dogs has lymphoma and the other has epilepsy. Viva blamed it on that. I was beyond outraged. My epi dog was diagnosed 4 years ago and my lymphoma dog two years ago. They were not sick because of their medical conditions which aren't even related. Ironically it was the epi dog who was really sick, not my boy on chemo."

Another said, "I had 2 cats of my three vomit within an hour of eating the VIVA RAW cat raw turkey and rabbit. I got my refund for all that I had ordered."

Someone shared Hera's story, another dog who’d died from eating food from the last recall (before it was officially recalled).

When I reported our cases to Viva, I was also told there've been "no other complaints;" even after they'd refunded us; and was told they tested the Lot numbers I had and they came back negative. They went on to tell me that what my dogs caught was probably environmental... not food borne.

Again, I do not know if Levi's sudden onset of around-the-clock diarrhea, vomiting, etc. was connected to what our other dogs experienced (which was absolutely linked to the food). It came about a week after the last dog had completed his "cycle" of symptoms (3 - 5 days).

I'm just wondering how many more stories like this are out there?

For folks who claim to be transparent, honest, etc...there seems to be a great deal of dishonesty, lack of transparency, and customer gaslighting going on. I understand protecting one’s business baby, but if your business baby is causing illness and death - and you’re spending more time covering up stories and on “damage control”- you need to rethink your business model, purpose, and mission. Is outcome in direct alignment with this? In this case, it would appear it is not.