Chicken-free decent food in Europe?

catsinfrance

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Hello all,

I hope that everyone's well and not too frazzled in this crazy world. I'm wondering if anyone can help please and recommend a good chicken-free, ethically reared wet food in Europe? We have a 2yr-old Kurilian Bobtail with a definite chicken allergy and almost certainly more besides. (The chicken allergy was confirmed through elimination / reintroduction and some fairly dramatic symptoms.) He won't eat rabbit (or wouldn't last time we tried), plus it's almost impossible to find anyway. He's been on Herrmann's venison, but he hates it and does still get some symptoms with it (although it could be a reaction to the celeriac, pear, coconut flakes, or mussel powder: why is nothing ever simple?). We've also tried ZiwiPeak venison; he likes that much better but it seems to make him sick. Maybe the chickpeas?

He has a slightly complicated history and lots of sensitivities ... we're not overly keen on the idea of beef or horse and would really rather find him something more like what he would eat in the wild (er, so not venison either really). Although I suppose on the Kurils, he'd have had fish and seabirds, but he can't tolerate mackerel or much tuna, and I don't know where to find puffin!

At least our other cat (17month-old seal lynx-point Siamese cross) can and will eat anything, so she can finish off what he can't eat. She's a shelter rescue and spent time on the streets while pregnant; she still eats every meal as if the next one might be a long way off. :-(

Anyway thank you very much for reading. Have a happy week :-)

Ps - in case anyone else is looking for the same, I've just ordered a variety of foods from a German site (petpoint-charly.com). They ship throughout Europe it would seem and carry quite of lot of different brands / formulations. Hopefully we'll find one that works for us.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
There are a number of different proteins such as boar, bison, kangaroo, quail, ostrich, crocodile and if you can get it, a new brand called Mouser has a couple varieties without chicken. If nothing in the varieties you just purchased, or from these listed here, works for him, you could consider making his food.

Can you give your meezer a little kibble in between meals, or an extra small meal now and then? There are feeding bowls/dishes specifically made for gobblers/fast eaters to slow them down as they're eating, and kibble toys that dispense a few pieces as they're played with which can help to engage her, --as long as the toy allows the pieces to come out (some of these toys aren't made well) :)
 

Flybynight

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C catsinfrance
Hi,
Animonda Vom Feinsten does a pure turkey tray food.
Monge has mono protein foods in varieties such as Turkey, Buffalo and rabbit.

Try Zooplus for Animinda. Not sure if they carry Monge on Zooplus but you may be able to find it online.

Also Farmina has a quail and pumpkin wet food.
 
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catsinfrance

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Thank you both very much. I'll add these all to my list of things to try. The more exotic meats seem harder to find here in France, but Germany seems to have lots of ethical / organic single protein foods of all varieties, exotic included, so fingers crossed we'll get it sorted soon. (He does actually seem to be able to eat insect-based food, or at least the one brand we found w/o any chicken, but as it's a dry food and we don't want to use it as more than just a topping, we need something else too.)

Making his food yes very good idea, I'm tentatively researching it. We're not sure how it would fit in to the days, but I'm thinking we could make up batches maybe 2-3x/week?

As for our wee meeze, I'm glad you mentioned the kibble toys as I almost got one of those on Zooplus points recently! I wasn't sure about them other than that they look like they should have hamsters in, but maybe we'll try it. She's super active so I expect she'd really enjoy it. Ha yes assuming the food comes out!

Many thanks again anyway for the help :-)
 

Furballsmom

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We're not sure how it would fit in to the days, but I'm thinking we could make up batches maybe 2-3x/week?
It can depend on a couple of things. Some people make up a big batch, freeze into small portions (ice cube trays can work) and then just take out a meal or two to thaw. This means a certain amount of freezer space devoted to cat food :)

Let us know how things go ❣
 
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catsinfrance

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Let us know how things go ❣ [/QUOTE said:
Thank you 💕
Re the freezer space, we've got an empty drawer I think, so we'd be ok there. (We only really use one drawer out of 3; the other is mainly full of ice packs😂)
So far, we're slowly introducing 100% turkey along with his other food. He loves it, but his sneezles have got worse. But then it's gone cold and wet outside, so ... ?
We will see what happens!

Thank you heaps again.
 

Antonio65

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If you're looking for a chicken-free wet food, you're looking for a mono protein food. If you take a 100% pork, for instance, you'd be sure there is no chicken in it.
I feed my cat only mono protein, grain-free, wet food, and grain-free dry food.
You can find a few premium brands out there.

I buy Marpet, which is am Italian brand, but it's not easy to find in shops, and only a few online stores have it.
 
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catsinfrance

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Antonio65 Antonio65
Thank you very much for the information, I appreciate it.

We were trying 100% turkey (organic), but he started sneezing more as I said. We've stopped the turkey now and the sneezes have subsided, so I think we can probably cross turkey off the list too. Not surprising really given its similarity to chicken, but we had to try it! Next up are duck and goose (separately).

We did try rabbit with him (as in, just the meat (cooked by us) with some pumpkin) when he was a kitten, but he didn't like it at all. Maybe time to try again though. Frustrating really that he's not only allergic / sensitive to lots but super fussy too!!

Thanks very much again to all :-)
 
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catsinfrance

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Just an update for anyone having similar issues who might find this thread in future: duck and goose are also out. No other bird provokes as severe a reaction as chicken, but they all provoke some reaction. We have found a "safe" food that he'll eat though, weirdly it's the same Herrmann's venison that he hated in sachets, but this time it's in tins. Supposedly the exact same food, but he likes it and our other cat (who will happily eat the sachets) hates it! The colour is different too, so obviously something is different.

Anyway we're sticking with that for now, but we've just found that he now has a very tiny patch of ?eczema? on his chest, so we need to work out what that is. And if the venison is not so good after all! I have found a pure rabbit food at last, so that will be next to try. Sadly though, it's neither ethical nor organic, so I'll keep looking too, just in case.

Thank you all again for your help. Take care everyone :-)
 

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There are a number of different proteins such as boar, bison, kangaroo, quail, ostrich (feathered or not these might still be a possibility) crocodile and if you can get it, a new brand called Mouser has a couple varieties without chicken.

Try try chamomile tea, German only chamomile which is medicinally active and safe for cats (english chamomile, that's grown in gardens is not safe). Brew, cool and apply to any and all skin problem areas. It's anti fungal, anti bacterial, will help ease the itch and is safe if she licks it. Also coconut oil is anti microbial, and is also safe if ingested. Colloidal silver could be another option.

Hydrolyzed food could be another possibility although these brands may require a vet prescription if you are able to obtain them.
 
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catsinfrance

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Thank you again. We're struggling to get the more "interesting" meats here, but I have a few possibilities to try if what we're doing now doesn't work!

I'm currently using a homemade calendula ointment (calendula, olive oil, beeswax) ... I'll look at adding some German chamomile to that. I've found in the past that cooled strong Rooibos tea also works wonders as an anti-inflammatory, but we don't have any Rooibos at the moment. It's on the list ...

Many thanks again. And have a lovely holiday season!
 
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catsinfrance

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:lovecat3::sheep::vibes::redheartpump::wave3:
These are brilliant, I had no idea they existed. I've got a UTI atm so seeing them (and finding some to send back) greatly cheered me up. Thank you for them and of course again for the cat help (eczema thing seems to be going away but we'll head to the vets if it's still there after the hols). I hope you're having a lovely festive rest!
:goldstar:
 
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