Stiftung Warentest tests cat food: cats would not buy Felix – consumers – Insurance for Pets

Your own cook, four freshly cooked dishes to choose from, silver bowls instead of bowl: Choupette, the cat of the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, shared the luxury life of her master. The fashion designer himself took care of his loved one for the time after his death: In the will of the designer, who died a good year ago, Lagerfeld guarantees the Burmese cat a maid, a housekeeper and a cook. Choupette, who had also photographed Lagerfeld as an advertising model for Opel, now resides in the south of France. In her new domicile, she should not lack anything either.

These are the best offers

It would also be easier – at least if the cat lady lived in Germany. Quickly to Kaufland, Edeka, Rossmann, Lidl or Rewe, buy a few bags, cans or aluminum boxes with wet food, and Choupette would be « very well » supplied. At least that’s what the testers from Stiftung Warentest think after testing 30 different wet foods. They swear by cheap chain store feed. The only « very good » branded food comes from Kitekat.

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You can buy that too

With whiskas and sheba, the animal feed and chocolate bar producer Mars also has two other at least “good” brands on offer. According to the Stiftung Warentest, the feed from Aldi, Netto, Iams, Zooroyal, Animonda and the organic feed from dm are also good. You can buy everything, say the experts.

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14.7 million cats live in Germany, no pet is more popular. Men and women spend 1.6 billion euros a year on food alone, with the lion’s share in wet food.

What cats need

Cats are carnivores. You need a good mix of animal protein, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. The best would be mice. But on the supermarket shelf or at the discounter, where cat owners mostly shop, there is no such thing as a mouse.

Because only slaughterhouse waste is processed in pet food, no other animal is killed for dogs and cats. And since mice are not on the human menu, the four-legged friends have to catch the supplies themselves.

Cats have their own peculiarities

The human can opener and bag ripper are quite capable of suffering when it comes to the peculiarities of their animals. Some cats only eat when they are petted, others only start to lick when some ham or a snack bar is crumbled over the food. Some house tigers like to eat in human company, others insist on privacy. However, many have one thing in common: they do not like to change the type of feed.

These brands are poor

That is why all the cat friends are facing tough times now, who are particularly fond of their roommates and who are not afraid to buy expensive branded food.

Of the six products that were punished with « poor », five are branded goods. Nestlé in particular is disappointed. The daughter Purina delivered two defective products with Felix and Gourmet Gold, even the best Nestlé food, Purina One, only managed one satisfactory and was thus far behind the cheaper discounter meals.

Not only Felix and Gourmet cats should leave their paws, Vitakraft, Bozita, Miamor and Fressnapf are also deficient, warn consumer advocates. They fear that the feed can even make the animals sick. Bozita, Felix, Gourmet Gold and Purina One contain a lot of water-soluble phosphorus (just like the « sufficient » offers from the Futterhaus and Penny). This can harm the cats’ kidneys. Around a third of the older animals already have chronic kidney disease. « Felix » also contains too much calcium, Gourmet Gold too much calcium and sodium.

What Nestlé says

The test results are devastating for Nestlé, whose gourmet gold has now failed the Stiftung Warentest for the second time in a row. When asked, it was said that the devaluations of the products could not be traced. « The legislator does not specify a maximum value for the phosphorus content in the diet of dogs and cats, but only a minimum value, » says Purina. « We will certainly adhere to this in order to guarantee an adequate supply of nutrients. » But too much harm as well as too little, emphasizes the Stiftung Warentest.
But how do you get the cat used to the new food? You can mix the new feed with the old one and gradually change the mixing ratio. Sometimes it also helps to warm the food.

Or you do it like Lagerfeld: four fresh meals for the kitty, three times a day, but not cooked by the staff, but yourself. This is not only true love for cats, but also prevents boredom at home, even in corona times.