Is Applaws good for dogs?
Applaws is a brand best known for natural, high-meat-content cat food, but it also produces a smaller Taste Toppers range for dogs — wet pouches and tins built around a high proportion of named meat with minimal added ingredients. Whether it is 'good' depends on what you are looking for: it suits owners who want a simple, meat-forward wet food or topper.
What the Applaws dog range actually is
Taste Toppers is positioned as a wet food or meal topper rather than the brand's core focus, which remains cat food, and the range includes both adult and puppy options across pouches and tins. Recipes generally lean on a high percentage of named meat with a simple ingredients list, in keeping with the natural positioning the brand uses across its cat food too.
Because it is marketed partly as a 'topper', some owners use it mixed through a dry kibble to add moisture and flavour rather than as a dog's sole complete diet, so it is worth checking the specific product's packaging for whether it states complete or complementary before relying on it as the only food.
Who this range tends to suit
A dog that is fussy about dry food alone, or an owner who wants to add moisture and extra palatability to a kibble-based diet, is the most obvious fit for a simple, meat-forward topper like this. It also suits owners already using other Applaws products for a cat in the same household who want a comparable style of food for a dog too.
It is less suited to an owner specifically looking for a single complete wet diet with a very wide range of recipes and life-stage options, since the dog side of the brand is smaller and less varied than dedicated dog-food brands with a longer history in that space.
Complete or complementary — check the pack
Whether a specific Applaws dog product is a complete food, suitable as a dog's whole diet, or a complementary product meant to be used alongside a complete food, is stated directly on the pack, and it is worth checking this before deciding how to use it, since the two are not interchangeable for a dog's full daily nutrition.
Feeding a complementary product as though it were a complete diet long-term risks leaving out nutrients your dog needs, so this is one label detail worth actually reading rather than assuming from the packaging's general look and marketing.
How it compares to Applaws' cat food
The overall approach — natural ingredients, a high percentage of named meat, a relatively short ingredients list — carries across from the cat range to the dog range, which is a large part of the brand's identity generally. The dog side is simply newer and smaller, with fewer recipes and life-stage options than the long-established cat range.
If you already know and like Applaws' cat food, the dog range is a reasonable bet on the same overall philosophy, though it is worth judging the dog products on their own merits rather than assuming the cat range's reputation transfers automatically.
From this brand
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Forthglade British Classics Chicken Family Lunch
Complete Forthglade wet dog food with 75% chicken in a 395G tray
£2.45
Harringtons Puppy Turkey & Rice
Complete turkey puppy food with 30% protein and feeding bands by adult weight
£6.49
Forthglade Just 90% Multicase Grain Free 12 Pack (4xChicken, 4xlamb, 4xbeef)
Twelve trays of single-meat food, four each of chicken, lamb and beef, at 90% meat
£23.25
Forthglade Just Grain Free Poultry Mix 12pk
Twelve grain-free poultry trays across three recipes, made to go over a mixer or dry food
£23.25
Burns Puppy/Junior Mini Chicken & Rice
Chicken and rice puppy food with a smaller kibble, made for small and toy breed mouths
£14.99
Burns Puppy Original Lamb & Rice
Complete Burns lamb and rice puppy food in a 2KG bag for up to 12 months
£14.99
Burns Puppy Junior Original Chicken Rice
A complete puppy and junior food with dried chicken 31% and controlled fat at 15%
From£14.99
Forthglade Just Turkey Grain Free
Forthglade Just Turkey Grain Free: complementary dog food with turkey 90% and minerals — 395G
£1.99
Forthglade Just Lamb Grain Free
Forthglade Just Lamb Grain Free: complementary dog food with lamb 90% and minerals — 395G
£1.99
Forthglade Just Chicken Grain Free
Forthglade Just Chicken Grain Free: complementary dog food with chicken 90% and minerals — 395G
£1.99
Forthglade Just Chicken with Liver Grain Free
Forthglade Just Chicken with Liver Grain Free: complementary dog food with chicken 85% — 395G
£1.99
Forthglade Just Beef Grain Free
Forthglade Just Beef Grain Free: complementary dog food with beef 90% and minerals — 395G
£1.99
Common questions
- Does Applaws make a complete dog food?
- Some products in the range are labelled complete, meaning they can serve as a dog's whole diet, while others are positioned as toppers meant to be used alongside another complete food. Check the specific pack for which one applies before relying on it as your dog's only food.
- Is Applaws mainly a cat food brand?
- Yes, Applaws is best known and most established as a cat food brand, and its dog range, Taste Toppers, is smaller and newer by comparison. Both ranges share a similar natural, high-meat-content approach, but the cat side has a longer history and more variety.
- Can I mix Applaws through my dog's dry food?
- Yes, this is one of the common ways owners use products from the Taste Toppers range — mixed through kibble to add moisture, flavour and encourage a fussy eater, rather than served as the dog's only food, unless the specific product is labelled complete.
- Is Applaws suitable for puppies?
- Only the products specifically labelled for puppies, which are formulated differently to suit a growing dog's needs. Check the pack states it is suitable for puppies before feeding it to one, in the same way you would check any dog food before feeding a young, growing dog.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.