There are some stores that sell imported pet foods but are not very common depending on the area (more common in urban centers like Delhi, Bombay [now Mumbai], etc). My parents were originally from Calcutta (now Kolkatta) and while there are a few modern style "supermarkets", most are open air markets with fresh meats and veggies. My aunt and her family who still live there take care of 3 cats and a stray dog, all of whom are fed on table scraps. Also, while not necessarily everywhere, a sizable majority of Indians (mostly Hindu and Jain) are vegetarians. My grandmother was as well and would not even touch a meat product. She would leave milk for her cat, and the kitty would supplement his diet with wild field mice. Also, when my family lived in Grenada (in the Caribbean, not Spain) we fed our dog and cats boiled chicken or baked fish because it's healthy and not processed, and certainly a lot less expensive than canned pet food. P.S. If I could not read the language on the can, I would be more scared the picture of the cat represented the contents and not the intended recipient ...?

Nope. Very recently dog food has started doing rounds and people think - oh it's the rich folks and their shenanigans. In a country where people die of starvation even though there are plenty of government grains rotting, pet food is a luxury not many can afford or care to buy. Even foods like Olives and Pastry sheets are very hard to find.

I bet a lot of crazy cat ladies would get into that. Lol

That also depends on the brand, some of the cheaper brands use the scraps left over from the animal after the cuts of meat meant for human consumption are removed. While the more expensive brands use the high quality meat.

It's not like driving from Texas to Canada... People in Europe go to other countries all the time. And it's not like they might not have already been in Germany for some other reason anyway.

Agreed. I imagine driving within Europe is more along the lines of driving within the NE corridor (DC/Baltimore, Philly, NY, etc.)

Europe is much smaller than the US but "oh let's just pop out for the day and visit my relative all the way in another country" is not a thought that crosses our mind very often, if it does at all.

Indeed. I have relatives in Zeeland (another province of the Netherlands), and I only see them every couple years because they live "so far away". It's about 150 kilometers. Another country is a whole other story haha

Just like in the US some brands use animals as their mascots so the aunt may have just thought it was a mascot for the company or something

Please.