My clients use CattleMax. What should the vet’s own records live in?
CattleMax is the ranch’s record. Vivetra Livestock is the vet’s. They do different jobs, and they don’t connect.
Updated November 2026. Every competitor claim links to its public source.
The short answer
CattleMax is producer-side cattle software: herd, pedigree and health records kept by the rancher 1, from $30 a month billed yearly 2. It’s been around since 1999 3.
Vivetra Livestock is a newer practice system for the veterinarian who serves that ranch. It holds VFDs, treatment and withdrawal records, pregnancy checks, testing and invoices, with a read-only portal the producer can check. It doesn’t replace CattleMax, and the two don’t connect. This page is for vets whose clients use CattleMax and who want their own records in order.
Side by side
| CattleMax | Vivetra Livestock | |
|---|---|---|
| Who keeps it | self-described as "North America's Most Widely Used Cattle Software" (vendor claim) 1 | The veterinary practice |
| Price | Commercial plan "$30 /mo billed yearly" (up to 250 active animals); Registered plan "$41 /mo billed yearly", adding pedigrees, EPDs and breed association interfaces; "Invite family, employees, office staff, and ranch hands at no extra cost" 2 | $200/mo, +$50 per extra service for the practice; unlimited vets and staff |
| Health records | "Record dosage, route, and location in a BQA-compatible format"; tracks booster and withdrawal dates to help "ensure animals are safe to enter the food chain" 4 | Group treatment ledger, vet-entered withdrawal dates, VFDs, testing, pregnancy checks |
| Pedigree and EPDs | Registered plan; see Price 2 | None |
| VFDs | Not stated on the pages we read | Recorded, with expiry limits enforced |
| Producer access | The producer’s own account | A read-only portal the practice switches on |
| Connection between them | None | None |
CattleMax is for
the producer running the herd: pedigrees, EPDs, the ranch’s own health log and records the whole ranch team can share.
Vivetra Livestock is for
the practice serving many operations: the vet’s own clinical and compliance record, testing, pregnancy checks and billing, with a window the producer can look through.
What the vet’s side looks like in Vivetra Livestock
- Farm clients, operations and premises (dairy, cow-calf, feedlot, swine, poultry, mixed), with USDA premises IDs.
- Lots with a USDA GIN and a head-count ledger (split, merge, sold, died), plus individual animal records (840 tag, brand, registry).
- Group treatments in an append-only ledger: drug, lot number, dose, route, head treated, administering vet, mg of active ingredient.
- Withdrawal dates for meat (individual and group) and milk discard (individual prescriptions), entered by the vet from the label, FARAD or clinical judgment, with a FARAD reference field. Vivetra never calculates withdrawal for you.
- VFD records with expiry enforced (6 months for US VFDs) and a dashboard card for VFDs expiring within 30 days.
- Chute-side pregnancy checks offline, synced in one batch, with the producer report emailed or texted.
- TB and brucellosis testing, movement certificates, breeding soundness exams, quarantines, herd-health protocols and herd-health contracts.
- Farm calls with flat, mileage or hourly travel fees, and livestock invoices with card payment links.
- A read-only producer portal showing the withdrawal board, treatment log, medicines used and herd records, if the practice switches it on.
Antibiotic-use reporting is its own question: which farm vet software tracks antibiotic use for reporting?
Limits to know
- No CattleMax integration. Records don’t flow either way.
- Not a ranch management tool. No pedigrees, EPDs, pastures or ranch finances.
- Withdrawal dates are always vet-entered, never calculated, and milk discard is recorded on individual prescriptions only, not on group treatments.
- VFDs are records, not documents. Vivetra doesn’t generate a VFD form or send it to the distributor.
- New vendor, with no comparable track record.
Questions people ask
Can my vet see my CattleMax records?
Not through Vivetra; the two don’t connect. With Vivetra, your vet keeps their own records, and you can view withdrawal dates and treatments in their read-only portal if they turn it on.
Is CattleMax veterinary software?
What does a cattle vet need that ranch software doesn’t cover?
The practice’s own clinical and compliance record: VFDs, prescribing, withdrawal dates set by the vet, testing, pregnancy checks and billing across many client operations.
How much does CattleMax cost?
CattleMax lists $30/mo (Commercial) and $41/mo (Registered), both billed yearly 2.