I thought I would share my experience of ordering German brands of cat food from Floydsphotenshop in Germany.

I first set sail on this course because I was unhappy (and disgusted) with the quality of (wet) cat food available in the UK, and after reading Hobbs’ excellent post on the A-Z of Wet Food in which she set out an analysis of the ingredients/nutritional value of the foods she reviewed.

I strongly subscribe to the notion that the quality of a pet’s health is very strongly influenced by the quality and nutritional value of the food they eat and, over the long term, the cost of ‘premium’ food is offset by fewer visits to the vet.

I originally fed William dry food only (Orijen) as I didn’t know any different but after the extensive research I did myself I immediately switched him over to wet food and do not endorse feeding cats dry food – of any quality.

Initially I ordered from Zooplus, but the only decent German food they have is Grau which contains rice (a carbohydrate). Aside from being a potential allergen, grains/carbs are not something a cat in the wild normally eats and can be a source of weight gain. And, personally, I am not comfortable with the source countries used for the meats in the other brands of food.

So I placed an order with another German on-line shop – but found their shipping fee of 22 Euros for 32 kilograms (via UPS) too high for my purse.

FloydsPfotenshop then posted on their website that they would ship to the UK (via DPD) for 10.50E for up to 30 kilograms ☺ A far more agreeable cost.

I used Google’s translate this page to translate the Floyds website from German into English and for any words that didn’t translate during the ordering process I simply copied and pasted into a new Google Translate window. Also, Daniela – the owner – is extremely nice and responds in English to emails/questions very quickly.

I ordered 81 x 200 gram tins which came to 21.15 Kilograms - so I still could have ordered more tins - for a delivery fee of 10.50E – which effectively added 0.12 pence to the cost of each tin. I ordered all the great brands Hobbs reviewed: Tiger Cat; Petnatur; MAC’s; Catz Fine Food, GranataPet – all grain free – with different meat sources and meat combinations to rotate.

I should add that I have only one cat who eats 1 x 200gram tin per day. The least expensive food I ordered is MAC’s at 0.89Euros (200g size); the most expensive Petnatur (Organic) at 1.85E (200g size). I could have saved some money if I had ordered the 400g size tins as they cost less per 100g but not sure how it would keep over 2 days or if William would get sick of eating the same thing 4 meals in a row….as he was a passionate dry food eating cat I still hold my breath every time I give him wet food.

I placed my order around noon on Monday……received a ‘your order has shipped’ email with tracking info. at 8.00am Tuesday morning……and the order was delivered, by DPD, this morning (Thursday) at 8.45am. Everything was perfectly and securely packed.

I should add that Floyds do charge 3.90% of the total order amount for paying with Paypal + a 0.35E service charge but this was virtually voided because they give a 4% discount on the total for spending over a certain amount of Euros.

This is not a paid review!! I initially found the prospect of ordering food from a German language website completely intimidating so I thought if others felt the same they might be encouraged by my experience. Also, I hope it will encourage others to take the leap if they can afford to do so.

Since feeding these German brands William is looking noticeably better and healthier. My partner – who I have to say is oblivious to many things – even commented the other day – unsolicited – on how well William is looking…..which has made the whole thing (feeding premium brands) feel even more worthwhile as it is obviously working

So pleased for you and the wee man!

This is a brilliant review for someone like me who is thinking about placing an order with Floyds soon. I am amazed that you ordered on Monday and got the delivery on Thursday... that's quicker than ZooPlus I think!

I'm looking forward to doing my first order with them!

Oh and a note for Hobbs... the kittens shared the Mac's pouch for a "snack" last night as they were hungry earlier than expected and they wolfed it down. Little piggies. They were a lot noisier eating that too and nearly took my hand off before I set their bowls down.

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Bonnie and the gang xxx

I have to say I've ordered twice now from Floyds Pfotenshop and found the service excellent, both times the goods were very well packaged and arrived only 2 days after I ordered!

I've ordered from Floyds and Fuettern-mitspass and the customer service from both was excellent. I will probably use Floyds from now on though out of the 2 because the delivery is cheaper and they stock Pfotenliebe which Fuettern mit spass don't.

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Wow, I am so pleased that so many of you are taking the plunge and are getting your cats some great food

Hobbs: It's all thanks to you

I didn't want to quote the name but as you mentioned it...Fuetternmitspass is the place I originally ordered from but I found their shipping cost (double that of Floyds) simply too expensive. I have thought of writing to Futternmitspass to ask if they would consider switching shippers from UPS to DPD but not sure how they would take it. Anyway, I must say Daniela at Floyds has been so friendly and nice.

As a relative newbie cat owner myself, i read the threads on wet food and must say that my german is 'school bookish' at best, i took the plunge using Google and have now made 2 orders with Floyds, brillant service and my 'cat' german is improving !

Haha, i was the same, now I don't even translate the website, and I say things like 'fancy some huhn und leber Arnie?' Lol

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