Great idea for a thread, Sunset. I can try and give a bit of a German perspective, since Zooplus and Bitiba are both German companies, I believe, and sell quite a few good German brands. German cat owners can be incredibly obsessively fussy about what their fur-babies eat, and I suspect the really detailed ingredient labelling on the Zooplus site is there to deal with that obsessive level of interest. I've seen arguments on German cat forums not just about the need to supplement raw food, but about the exact ingredients necessary for making your own supplements, because obviously none of the shop-bought supplements are in any way adequate. You get discussions on the exact levels of vitamin A or percentage of protein or whatever - it goes way beyond merely 'does it contain taurine?' For me the main concerns are: is it grain free (have a cat with intolerance), does it contain taurine and thus doesn't need supplementing, and what is the percentage of named meat? I'm trying to ensure at least 60% named/labelled meat. We also feed raw fairly often, supplemented with powder containing taurine and other stuff.
We've discovered that Arcahct gets bored if we feed the same brand of anything too much, so have now identified a number of reasonable-quality brands which we feed in random order, mixed with raw meals. And I'm sure he has a pretty efficient self-service habit going with the local mice too, which keeps his taurine levels nice and high. We've found the food quantity recommendations are MUCH too high, because they need less when it's such high quantity. Archcat is 6.5 kilos and gets 2 x 100g wet (either canned or raw) plus a small handful of dry. That's much less than recommended. Presumably the self-service bumps up his calorie count.
I think taurine levels are naturally highest in organs like heart. I bought a pack of chicken hearts the other day and mixed them with chicken stomachs and livers; beef heart also goes down well with the Boss. We intersperse this with commercial food.
OK, down to the wet food. Several we use have been mentioned already.
Animonda Carny
Anomonda vom Feinsten
Bozita
Grau
Miamor
Catz Finefood
Animonda Carny is actually the 'entry level' Animonda food, which is perfectly OK. We tend to use the 100g trays of Animonda vom Feinsten (means 'of the finest'). We get an assorted meat and fish mega-pack like this. These are the ingredients in vom Feinsten:
Turkey Hearts: 65% meat & meat by-products (beef, poultry, pork, 8% poultry hearts), stock, minerals.
Poultry & Veal: 63% meat & meat by-products(25% poultry, beef, pork, 8% veal), stock, minerals.
Salmon & Shrimps: 42% meat & meat by-products (poultry, pork), stock, fish & fish by-products (15% salmon), shellfish (6% shrimp), minerals.
Multi Meat Cocktail: 63% meat & meat by-products (23% beef, each 10% lamb, turkey, chicken, rabbit; pork), stock, minerals.
Turkey & Rabbit: 63% meat & meat by-products (pork, 25% turkey, 8% rabbit), stock, minerals.
Chicken Liver: 63% meat & meat by-products (beef, 14% chicken liver, pork), stock, minerals.
Chicken & ocean fish: Meat & meat by-products (16% chicken), fish & fish by-products (4% ocean fish) shellfish and crustaceans (4% crabs), minerals.
Chicken & Seafood: 55% meat and animal derivatives (pork, beef, 16% chicken), fish & fish by-products (4% ocean fish), crustaceans (crabs 4%), broth, minerals.
Turkey: turkey (57%), broth, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride.
Beef & Potato: 60% meat and animal derivatives (30% beef, poultry, pork), vegetables (4% potato), broth, minerals.
Beef: meat and animal derivatives (30% beef), minerals.
Poultry & Pasta: 60% meat and animal derivatives (25% poultry, beef, pork), baked products (4% noodles), broth, minerals.
Turkey & Tomato: turkey (53%), broth, tomato (4%), calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, broth.
Turkey hearts: 65% meat and animal derivatives (beef, poultry, pork, 8% turkey hearts), broth, minerals.
Now this is really weird, because I've always assumed it has taurine, but can't find any mention of it. Hmmm.
Grau has a really good reputation in Germany for being high quality, and is available on Zooplus. We get a multipack like this.
These are the ingredients, and it contains 1000mg of taurine per kg.
Turkey & Lamb:
Meat & innards (min. 40% turkey, min. 28% lamb), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Chicken & Veal:
Meat & innards (min. 40% chicken, min. 28% veal), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Turkey, Salmon & Mackerel:
Meat, fish & innards (min. 30% turkey, min 20% salmon, min. 18% mackerel), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Rabbit, Beef & Duck:
Meat & innards (min. 30% rabbit, min. 20% beef, min. 18% duck), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Poultry & Ocean Fish:
Meat & innards (min. 40% poultry, min. 28% ocean fish, min. 18% mackerel), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Poultry Gizzards in Jelly:
Poultry gizzards (min 72%), meat stock, calcium carbonate.
Catz Finefood
We get the mixed trial pack.
This stuff is seriously expensive, but has a fab reputation for good quality. The meat is all human grade quality! Taurine is added at 0.15% of content. I find also there's a bit much in the way of fancy ingredients that Archcat doesn't give a hoot about (cranberries, really?)
Ingredients:
Veal:
70% veal (approx. 50% heart & lean meat, of which approx. 2/3 meat and 1/3 heart; approx. 50% offal, of which approx. 1/3 liver, 1/3 lung, 1/3 kidney), 27.45% water, 1% apricot, 1% pineapple, 0.15% taurine, 0.15% linseed oil, 0.15% sea salt, 0.1% seaweed.
Game:
70% game (approx. 70% heart & lean meat, of which approx. 2/3 meat and 1/3 heart; approx. 30% liver), 24.45% water, 3% potato, 2% cranberries, 0.2% rosemary, 0.2% wheat germ, 0.15% taurine.
Poultry:
69% poultry (approx. 50% heart & lean meat, of which approx. 2/3 meat and 1/3 heart; approx. 50% offal, of which approx. 1/3 stomach, 1/3 liver, 1/3 necks), 27.7% water, 2% cranberry, 1% dandelion, 0.15% taurine, 0.15% safflower oil.
Herring and Crab:
45% herring, 26.45% water, 25% crab, 2% pumpkin, 1% aloe vera, 0.2% seaweed, 0.2% salmon oil, 0.15% taurine.
Lamb & Rabbit:
49% lamb (approx. 50% lean meat; 50% offal, of which approx. 1/2 liver and 1/2 lung), 24.45% water, 21% rabbit (approx. 50% lean meat; 50% liver), 3% cranberries, 2% carrot, 0.2% egg shell, 0.2% sunflower oil, 0.15% taurine.
Salmon:
36% salmon, 35% poultry (approx. 70% heart and lean meat, of which approx. 2/3 meat and 1/3 heart; approx. 30% liver), 26.2% water, 1% spinach, 1% tomato, 0.3% egg shell, 0.2% sea salt, 0.15% taurine, 0.15% hempseed oil.