Applaws pet food is one of the many brands that you can choose from in your search for the perfect mix of deliciousness and nutrition. Predominantly, Applaws makes wet cat food with some dry food. Most cat owners prefer its wet cat food, but are any of them worth the hype? Let’s take a look at the critical information about Applaws and the most popular recipes currently available.
Applaws is an individual brand that first started in 2006 in the United Kingdom. It began to take up a place on the specialty retail shelves as a brand that was “high quality”. It promoted itself by saying that it is 100% natural and comes from ethically sourced ingredients.
Now, Applaws is a familiar brand throughout most of Western Europe, Australia, and North America. It sources its ingredients from all over the world, which is never a great indicator of food quality.
Most of its suppliers need to adhere to international safety and husbandry standards.
It requires its suppliers to be members of at least one of these organizations:
Marine Stewardship Council
Earth Island Institute
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)
Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA)
Which Types of Cats Are Applaws Best Suited For?
Applaws make food primarily for cats. For the most part, its food is meant for adult cats who don’t struggle with specific health issues or dietary sensitivities. Some people argue that Applaws cat food is more species-appropriate than many of the brands currently on the market, with some areas that could be improved.
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Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)
Lack of Animal By-Products
The more notable aspects of Applaws recipes are the ingredients that it doesn’t use.
Applaws do not include any animal by-products, only using the valuable parts of animals that are proven to have the most nutrients and protein.
Not only does it skip out on animal by-products, but it also leaves out other artificial ingredients. It doesn’t add vitamins, minerals, or supplemental amino acids that might sound good for your cat but adds unnecessary and unnatural chemicals into the food’s mix.
Rice and Carrageenan
Many of the company’s recipes only include ingredients that would be deemed necessary for a cat’s health. Cats do not need too many ingredients to keep them satisfied and their systems continuing to function properly.
However, in some of the food, Applaws seems to need to use a thickener. The company does this in many of its wet food offerings, which makes up most of its recipes.
In some of these, the thickener is rice, which adds excessive amounts of starch that are entirely unnecessary for a cat. It makes it less of a species-appropriate choice.
Other thickener substances that it uses are carrageenan and locust bean gum. Both of these are sourced from plants and are entirely unnecessary for a cat. The locust bean gum has been tested and appears to be altogether safe for cats, however.
Carrageenan, on the other hand, has a long history and even worse reputation for being the cause of or leading to worse inflammation. It isn’t always harmful, but it can be.
Limited Number of Ingredients
Not all pet foods are known for the stuff that it does have, but rather for what it doesn’t. Applaws tries to use a limited number of ingredients in all of its recipe options. Doing so helps keep them safer for a cat’s system. It leaves out many of those ingredients that commonly cause weight gain issues.
Recipes with a limited number of ingredients are best for those cats that suffer from allergies. With fewer ingredients, the recipe only contains what they need and keeps their food free from things that could hurt them.
A Quick Look at Applaws Cat Food
Calorie Breakdown:
** We’ve chosen Applaws Chicken recipe to represent the products in the line being reviewed **
Pros
Highly palatable choices
Doesn’t include artificial ingredients, preservatives, or coloring
Leaves out animal by-products
Grain-free recipe makes it safer for most cats
Limited-ingredient recipes safer for cats with allergies
Cons
Not a budget-friendly option
Uses some kind of thickener for most wet food options
Recall History
Fold Hill Foods recalled several Applaws products in July 2021. Learn more about the affected products and health concerns surrounding the recall here. Below are a few links to the Applaws website that detail the recall updates and additional test results.
Applaws’ Tuna Fillet With Pacific Prawn is one of the most popular wet cat food selections for those cats who like a taste of the ocean. This cat food recipe is made with 75% tuna fillet and prawn. These ingredients give it a high overall protein content and fill it with natural sources of taurine, which helps your cat’s overall health, including its vision and cardiovascular.
There are only three ingredients in the whole thing, including rice as a thickener. The price can also make this food more out of reach for those who need a friendlier option for their budget.
Pros
Natural ingredients used in production
A limited number of ingredients for cats with allergies
Includes taurine for healthy development
Cons
Includes rice as one of the primary ingredients
2. Applaws 100% Natural Wet Cat Food, Chicken Breast and Pumpkin in Broth
The recipe that includes chicken breast and pumpkin all set in a broth for wet food is uniquely one of Applaws’s most popular recipes. Surprisingly to some cat owners, pumpkin is great for cats. It is packed full of fiber, making it a beneficial ingredient for your cat’s digestive system.
It aids in preventing constipation and can even stop diarrhea because the fiber absorbs stomach acid and extra water. It also helps ingested fur move through the cat’s system instead of allowing it to stack up and cause issues.
Beyond the pumpkin, the other primary ingredient is chicken, which provides the protein in the food. The chicken makes up 50% of the food and provides 10.5% crude protein. The pumpkin is 25% of the recipe, and the rest is chicken broth and rice. Unfortunately, the addition of rice is the only ingredient that makes this food less species-appropriate.
Pros
All-natural ingredients in the mix
Limited ingredients are best for cats with allergies
Pumpkin is an excellent ingredient for a cat’s digestive system
This is one of Applaws’s dry food options. It features a primary protein source of chicken. It is similar to how Applaws produces wet food in that it does not put any additives or preservatives in the mix. The dry food is a complete source of everything your cat needs to stay healthy.
Overall, this food is low in carbohydrates, which is species-appropriate for cats. There are not as few ingredients in this dry food as in wet food, which is a common characteristic for most companies that do both kinds of food.
Dry chicken meal is the first ingredient and makes up 65% of the food. It has vitamins and minerals that were added, which isn’t specific enough for many cat owners. The food also includes plenty of taurine to inspire plenty of healthy growth and further development.
The kibble is grain-free and includes ingredients with pre-biotic and pro-biotic capacities to help form a healthy immune system.
Pros
First and second ingredients are chicken
No additives or preservatives
Species-appropriate mix of what a healthy cat needs
Cons
Unidentified vitamins and minerals added in
What Other Users Are Saying
My Feline Buddy — “…Applaws cat food is generally safer and better than most other brands…Due to its cost, though, you can try to mix the dry and wet cat food with more homemade food.”
All About Cats — “Applaws brings you a wide selection of wet foods in many textures and tastes cats love. Though they make cat-approved treats or once-a-week meals, Applaws wet foods are too expensive and nutritionally incomplete to be a viable option on their own for a long-term diet.”
Amazon — Amazon has built up one of the world’s largest resale companies with a complete review system that shines out against most others on the internet. Pet owners find it a valuable source of information to weed out what others think of Applaws cat foods. Check out these reviews by Amazon users here.
Christian started writing for a local newspaper as a teenager, and he's been involved in the publishing industry for most of his adult life. Combining his love of writing with a passion for animals, he is currently the Director of Editorial at Pangolia and the Editor-in-Chief at Catster.
Christian lives in the Philippines with his wife, son, and four rescue cats: Trixie, Chloe, Sparky, and Chopper.
A Quick Look at Applaws Cat Food
