# Germans in America



## Highlight (Feb 28, 2013)

Hey!

My name is Mattea and I have been living in the US for 14 month now. I came here with my German husband, who works here as an engineer. I am sorry, if there are mistakes, my English is still not perfect 

We have a dog, Kasper, 5 years old, rescue-dog, a mix, we don't know which breed he could be. He is black and white and a middle sized dog. 
We have had two cats in Germany. When we decided to move to America, we found a law, that it's not allowed to have cats outside. But ours have been used to go in and out and we thought, it would be mean to keep them in. We decided to find a nice new home for them what we did. I still get mails and photos from the new owners 
When we moved here, we saw a lot of cats, all running around outside, unattended  So I could have taken them with me... 
I absolutely miss my cats! So I talked my husband into getting two new kittens :catsm I am looking for about 3 month old kittens from a shelter or a rescue organisation. I will have to wait about 2 more month, until they will be born 

Now I can use the time to get more information about great brands. I have the knowledge from my last cats, so I know for example, that wet food (cans) is much better than dry food. But I only know good German brands and not the american ones. So I like to get tips about mostly everything like food, litter, cat trees and so on.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Welcome!! 

Your English is wonderful (better than some of our American members!). 

Too bad you were misinformed about outside cats.  Most of us *do* keep our cats inside, but it's more of a safety thing (traffic, coyotes, evil teenagers).

Have you tried looking at Petfinder? Lots of kittens! Just plug in your location and let the fun begin!

Pet adoption: Want a dog or cat? Adopt a pet on Petfinder


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Welcome to the forum! Your English is fantastic! How long have you been studying English? I always have so much respect for someone that knows multiple languages. I know in Europe it's a pretty common thing, but in North America a lot of people only speak English; learning another language is so hard! Often non-native speakers are better at the language than native speakers, they didn't have the luxury of learning the language innately and have had to thoroughly study every single bit of the grammar/syntax. Where I would say "well that's just how it's said" ... someone that's learned English as a second language I'm sure would have a bunch of logic behind why things are placed the way they are in a sentence. 

Anyway, besides that... you've come to the right place for suggestions. There are many top quality brands, in general look for grain-free foods with no potatoes or fruit/vegetables or by products. Some of the more talked about brands around here are EVO, Wellness, Merrick's, Before Grain, Taste of the Wild, Go!, Weruva, Instinct... avoid Science Diet, Fancy Feast, Friskies or anything else you might be able to locate in a grocery store. It's also suggested to only feed fish flavors occasionally, some people don't feed them at all. I'd check a smaller pet store (not a giant like Petsmart) and they should carry these and have reasonable prices.

Cat treats and litter are more of a personal preference, but some people might have suggestions.


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## Highlight (Feb 28, 2013)

Thanks for being so nice about my English  I have had English in school for 5 years but I was always very bad. I am really happy to be so much better now, I think I am learning much better by doing than studying a language.

I know about the food, it is so hard to find some healthy and not crazy expensive one! Does anyone know a good online store? I made the experience that this is the best way to get the good brands pretty cheap.

I have already tried Petfinder, but we are living in Michigan and so in the wintertime there are not many kittens. They are all at least 4-6 months old and I would really love to get a little bit younger ones. And I can only find single ones because their siblings are already adopted and I will only take 2 young cats!


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Seems it's always the case when you immerse yourself in a language and are forced to use it rather than study it.

I hear the sites wag, chewy and petfooddirect mentioned a lot. I can't use any of them since I'm in Canada. There's also some mid-grade foods if the super premium ones are too expensive. A few I've heard mentioned are Chicken Soup for the Cat and Trader Joe's (from the Trader Joe's store, so you'd need to have one where you live). Also look for brands that come in larger cans, EVO is a great example of this.


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## mumof7kitties (Jan 27, 2013)

Guten tag!

Check on craigslist too for kittens. There's always kittens! It is coming on kitten season too so those poor momma's are going to start having their babies litter after litter. 

As for your English and learning better by saying & doing rather than studying, you're so right! I took French for several years in school and never got it right. It wasn't till I lived there that I actually learned how to speak it!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

Mattea, welcome to the U.S. (belatedly)! 

Do you have a store near you named Trader Joe's? They have their own brand of canned food that's only 69 cents a can, and it's reasonably high quality nutritious food. I drive about 20 minutes to get to one near me, and just stock up. Unfortunately, they don't have online ordering.

What you learned about outdoor cats is that different areas have different laws, so it might be that in the county you're in there's no prohibition against outdoor cats. Even if it's legal, there are still a million reasons to keep cats indoors. Outdoor cats are so susceptible to dangers like getting hit by a car, eating something poisonous, like Marie said "evil teenagers," you name it. The list goes on forever. Most Americans (especially those in urban areas) feel like it's just too dangerous to let them outside. Some people have come up with happy mediums, like creating a fenced-in outdoor space in their backyard where their cats could roam around, but couldn't leave the enclosure. In the meantime, even areas with laws against outdoor cats may still have feral cats, so it may be that the ones you saw outside were feral. That's another whole story, but obviously, it's not a good thing and there are rescue groups all over the country trying to help feral cats.


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## Highlight (Feb 28, 2013)

I have a Trader Joe's really close (2 miles or so) that would be perfect. I was a bit surprised about the tiny cans you have here, in Germany they are much larger  I have heard EVO a lot and will just try some different food, who knows what my future cats will like  My last cats loved food in some sauce and the good brands are normally pate. 

I don't mind waiting a little bit until my local shelter will have some babies. I like to get rescue animals and don't buy them from some weird people who breed for fun or so.


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## Tiliqua (Jan 22, 2013)

Welcome!  Like someone else said, your English is better than a lot of North American's.


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## anie (Dec 4, 2012)

Welcome! I'm your european neighbor, I am originally from Poland  almost 6 years in the US already!
That's great you are going to adopt rescue cats, and that you are taking two. Here at the forum you will find tons of info about food, behavior and all cat related stuff 


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## Highlight (Feb 28, 2013)

I just bought a cat tree and don't even know, when I will find cats for the tree  But at least everything will be prepared when they arrive if I have to wait


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## Vivid (Feb 5, 2013)

Hallo Mattea. I am also from Germany, but been here since 1993 already. Hope you are liking the USA and will soon find a feline companion for yourself again. One of my cats, Kiki was allowed outside with supervision, but our shy Siamese kitty, Sapphire will have nothing to do with outside. She has been known to find a mouse or two nonetheless. Anyways, welcome and enjoy your stay here


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Welcome! Like others say your english is ten times better than some americans here :lol: so your good. You came to the right place to learn about cat food! 

My favorite online site is Chewy.com. I have always ordered my food from them. They have all the good brands available and generally cheaper prices than in store. I always buy EVO canned cat food from them in the 13.2 ounce cans. Its 12 big cans for only around 22 dollars. Cheapest high high quality canned you will find. My cats get fed partial EVO and partial raw. Its free shipping from chewy.com after above 49 dollars which I always go above anyway because I usually order two or three cases. They dont just carry food either. Its litter, bowls, flea treatments, grooming supplies etc. NEVER get your flea treatments like frontline or advantage from Petsmart or Petco. They jack the prices up on it by 10-15 dollars more than it is on chewy.com. Other good wet foods are Merrick Before Grain, Natures Variety Instincts, Soulistic (only at Petco), Natures Logic, Wellness Grain Free, GO Natural, Taste of the Wild, Hounds&Gatos etc. Wellness is the only other brand that comes in the big cans like EVO. Its comparable just a little more expensive. Stay FAR away from Science Diet, Royal Canin, Iams, and anything made by Purina! Depending on which vet you go to here they will probably try to tell you to feed one of those foods. Dont listen to them. They get paid by those bad companies to recommend and sell their food. Being in Michigan if you ordered from chewy.com it would probably get to you in just a couple days because I believe they are based out of PA. 

As far as dry foods Orijen and GO Natural Fit + Free are the leading brands here. You can get both of those from chewy.com also.


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

Wilkommen bei Catforum! AND the U.S.!


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## Gattina1607 (Mar 5, 2013)

Willkommen im Catforum  I'm new too and also from Germany. Well, originally Italian but born and raised near Frankfurt. I live in Canada now.

Hope you get your kittens soon!

Have a great day!

Daniela


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