I have just amended the title of this thread slightly because I thought it would be useful to have a designated cold pressed food thread (of which Markus Muhle is the main one). Scampers website has an explanation of the cold press process
here.
I am open to correction on this, but as I understand it, there are probably only about a handful of brands that are cold pressed. The ones that I know of are:
Markus Muhle NaturNah - just one variety
Markus Muhle Black Angus - I cannot find a separate website for this but there are several lifestage varieties on Zooplus
here Gentle - one type only (for all lifestages).
LupoLukullus - again, I can only supply the Zooplus link
here. There are several different varieties.
Farmfood HEThere may be more so if anyone comes across something, please update this thread.
They mostly come in 5kg or 15kg bags. 2kg ones would be more suitable for owners of small breed dogs, particularly as the amount needed is less. Also, paying out for 5kg can be quite expensive if the dog doesn't take to it. I don't know why some of the companies have not thought of this. For the scores on the dog food directory of this website, see individual products. Some of them score very highly, particularly Gentle which comes in at 4.8. These products do not seem to be widely available in retail shops. For many people this will necessitate online purchase.There are a few companies who are offering cold pressed foods so it shouldn't be too hard to find a product that suits.
I only have experience of using Gentle and it has been a positive one. I chose it because there was nothing in the ingredient list that I didn't want and the fact that it isn't baked/extruded at high temperatures as is kibble. Also, it is for all lifestages which for me, with three (then four) dogs, all at different ages was very convenient.
A few observations:
* The product looks and feels a lot different to kibble. The pieces are described as nuggets. I have only seen Gentle but I can say that it smells really nice - a bit like gravy. I don't know if this is relevant to all, but pet odour seems (to me) to be reduced.
* It is necessary to weigh the food and not to use a cup or mug. This is because the product is dense and heavy. There are a few videos on YouTube about cold pressed food and one of them contains an image of 50G of kibble compared with 50G of Gentle. There is considerably less of the latter.
* The product has limited shelf life (IIRC it is about six months) so it is probably best not to buy too much at once.
* Cost - MM is considerably cheaper then Gentle. I don't know why because the products are all made at the same plant in Germany. I understand from this website that there isn't one in the UK at the moment. Gentle is said to be a UK company but seems to have the same person contact details as MM. I haven't any figures but to me, despite the higher cost of Gentle it seems to have been economical. This is because I bought the 15kg bag and the fact that the feeding amount is small.
* Effect on dogs: All mine really enjoy the food and have done well on it. Bella's coat was in poor condition and it has helped to improve matters. Their poo has been perfect - formed but not too bulky. Unfortunately I have had to reduce the quantity to considerably lower than 1% of body weight due to weight control issues. I soften Gentle with warm water, put it inside a Kong and freeze it. This keeps them occupied for some time.
Looking forward to hearing what others have to say about this type of food.