Applaws originated in the UK and has become one of the more affordable dry cat foods in Australia if you shop at Coles – this is the Applaws Vitality range, and we’ll cover how good this is in the review.
The wet foods are labelled complimentary or supplemental feeding only. This means they’re not “complete and balanced”, so not a cat food you can rely on to provide all the nutrients your cat needs – this is a shame, as it means the wet foods should only be fed as a treat or alongside a dry cat food to add essential moisture.
Given the price of the Applaws wet cat foods I find myself wondering if fresh foods or human grade canned sardines or tuna (in moderation) would be a more cost effective “treat”?
Let’s take a look at Applaws Vitality available in Coles (as the original “It’s All Good” formula seems to have been phased out in Australia)…
Applaws Vitality (dry cat food) review
I can’t ignore the price of Applaws Vitality in Coles. If you’re on a budget that’s a definite plus.
You’ll find better rated dry cat foods with more meat content, but they’ll cost you more. It has to be said Applaws Vitality is a fairly decent formula considering the price, but I would only consider it as part of your cat’s diet (needless to say you dry food should never be all of your cat’s diet).
The first ingredient is what your cat will benefit from the most, and that’s chicken meal.
Chicken meal is a pre-cooked powder form of chicken protein, so protein dense, but effectively cooked twice when baked into a kibble. It’s nice to see Applaws have given us the percentage as 65%, but the cunning trick word is “Equiv.” – this means it’s equivalent of 65% fresh chicken wet-weight (before cooking), and fresh chicken is a majority of water.
In short, it means the chicken meal isn’t 65% of the formula, which is what you assumed, right?
It would be a fair bit less, and that means the next two ingredients can also be considered significant – legumes (faba beans and/or chickpeas) and starch (potato and/or pea and/or faba bean). You’ll note these two aren’t very “carnivorous cat”, but you’ll find this to be the case for most dry cat foods for your pet carnivore (many are worse).
Given two of the three top ingredients (which make up most of the recipe) aren’t animal based but are protein sources, we can deduce a fairly equal mix of animal and plant proteins. Animal proteins win hands down for your cat, but it’s better to have more protein (inclusive of plant protein) than higher carbohydrates from grains (whereas Applaws Vitality is grain-free which is better).
This means Applaws Vitality is the better formula to other supermarket brands of cat food which are much higher carbohydrates, mostly from grains which your cat will struggle to digest.
The same “Equiv.” trick is used on Fish Meal to make us think it’s 6% of the formula when the reality is it’s much less, but still a nice to have.
Salmon Oil is another nice inclusion but in a very small amount, and less than Vegetable Oils as a less effective source of omega 3 and 6 for your cat’s skin, coat, and wellbeing – it’s these small differences which tell you why other dry cat foods have been rated more highly.
When we look at the guaranteed analysis we see protein is a respectable 34% min (a combo of animal and plant protein), but fat sits a little low at 10.5% (min). To offer a comparison, Taste of the Wild dry cat food sits around 36% protein and 16% fat, which makes that a better overall option.
All in all Applaws Vitality could well be an affordable option for your cat, but consider mixing it with other types of cat food as well. For a brand found in the supermarkets it’s not too shabby.
Where to buy?
Applaws Vitality is only available at Coles and Amazon, but the wet cat foods are available at various retailers.
Ingredients
Ingredients of Applaws Vitality dry cat food:
Chicken Meal (Natural Source of Glucosamine) (Equiv. 65%), Legumes (Faba Beans and/or Chickpeas), Starch (Potato and/or Pea and/or Faba Bean), Natural Petfood Flavour (Chicken), Poultry Tallow (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Rosemary), Fish Meal (Equiv. 6%), Lucerne, Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Vegetable Oils (Sunflower & Flaxseed – Source of Omega 3&6), Cellulose Fibre, Salt, Sweet Potato, Amino Acids (DL-Methionine, Taurine), Salmon Oil (Source of Omega 3), Chicory Root Inulin (Natural Prebiotic), Yeast Extract (Source of MOS – Natural Prebiotic), Yucca Shidigera, Dried Cranberry, Natural Antioxidants, Dried Kelp.
Guaranteed Analysis
The guaranteed analysis of Applaws Vitality cat food (Applaws Vitality Hairball Chicken With Ocean Fish Adult):
| Crude Protein | (min) 34% |
| Fat | (min) 10.5% |
| Crude Fibre | (max) 5% |
| Carbohydrates * | (max) 37% (as stated by Applaws) |
* May be estimated. Read how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food.
Historical ingredients (It’s All Good formula)
For reference, the Applaws It’s All Good dry cat food ingredients (note: chicken meal + chicken mince offer a more significant animal matter to non-animal ratio):
Dry Chicken Meal (65%), Chicken Mince (17%), Potato, Brewer’s yeast, Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Salmon Oil, Vitamins and Minerals, Dried Egg, Cellulose Plant Fibre (0.03%), Sodium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Seaweed/Kelp, Cranberry, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Yucca Extract, Citrus Extract, Rosemary Extract
