Top 10 Best Dog Foods for Acid Reflux
Acid reflux is a symptom that should be treated seriously. It is not a pleasant thing for your dog to experience, but it can signal more serious health issues. If left untreated for too long, your dog can suffer enormously and get even more health problems.
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Acid reflux is also known as gastroesophageal reflux. It is a mixture of stomach acid, bile, and salts. Over time, it causes irritation and inflammation along the lining of the esophagus and can lead to ulcers and even a thinning or necrosis of the esophagus.
Consistent vomiting is often caused by acid reflux. It may cause acid to enter into a dog’s lungs and damage them or cause aspiration pneumonia.
Ultimately, veterinary treatment should be sought out for your pup. However, you can do things to help your pup’s recovery not be so painful and difficult. Changing out their food to be easier on their stomach and the intestinal lining is one way. So what to feed a dog with acid reflux?
Explore our reviews of the top seven foods for dogs that struggle with acid reflux. If you need further guidance on what to look for in this kind of food, then read the buyer’s guide.
The 10 Best Dog Foods for Acid Reflux
CANIDAE All Life Stages Formula Dry Dog Food — Best Overall
CANIDAE makes its all life stages formula for dogs of all breeds, ages, and sizes. The point of this food is not to specify one type of dog over another, but to give average dogs a premium diet that suits all their needs.
The formula is entirely free from corn, soy, and wheat, making it much easier for most pups to digest. The protein comes from chicken, lamb, turkey, and fish meals, so even these sources add to a nutritionally dense formula. The crude protein is outstanding for a one-for-all mix, sitting at a minimum of 24%. Crude fat is always a minimum of 14.5%, and 4% fiber makes for easier digestion.
Health PLUS Solutions gives the food a trio of probiotics, omega-3s, omega-6s, and antioxidants. The whole recipe is fortified with essential vitamins and minerals and is formulated by veterinarians to satisfy taste buds. You pay for the variety, though, as this is one of the more expensive foods on the list.
- More expensive than similar options
- Has fiber for easier digestion
- High in crude protein and fat
- Formulated by veterinarians
Castor & Pollux Organic Senior Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
Old dogs need all the nutritional help that they can get. With Castor & Pollux ORGANIX Organic Senior dry dog food, your canine friend can have organic and stomach-soothing ingredients.
First, it’s important to note that this recipe does contain organic farm-raised chicken as the primary protein source. However, it doesn’t include added growth hormones or antibiotics. But if your dog is allergic to chicken, or if it causes tummy issues, it may be best to avoid this recipe.
However, if your canine can digest chicken a bit easier, they’ll get lots of benefits. First, chicken is full of natural glucosamine and chondroitin — building blocks for flexible cartilage and supple joints. Plus, it also includes iron and B vitamins for an energy boost.
Organic sunflower oil and organic chicken fat provide omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for brain health and coat shine. Plus, these fats are lighter and more nourishing than saturated fats like pork fat — keeping obesity at bay and easing inflammation in the joints.
This grain-free recipe is made without artificial preservatives, flavors, colors, and GMOs. And, there are no corn, wheat, soy, chickpeas, or lentil ingredients. It doesn’t include any synthetic fertilizers or chemical pesticides.
Castor & Pollux Organic Senior Recipe is certified USDA organic and made in an organically certified US kitchen.
Parents of senior dogs say that this food is fantastic for larger breeds (although safe for small breeds too). They love that it aids in joint support and keeping their big dogs active, even into seniorhood.
American Natural Premium Dry Dog Food — Best Value
American Natural Premium Dry Dog Food offers a meal that targets healthy nutrition while simultaneously focusing on being delicious. It has a unique ingredients list, featuring a mixture of turkey meat and pumpkin. The pumpkin helps enhance your pup’s digestion by adding valuable probiotics and prebiotics.
This food’s protein is high enough to fit almost any dog’s needs. The crude protein is 25%, and the crude fat is 14%. A 4.5% of crude fiber makes it easy for your dog to digest without as much pain. Additionally, it is the best dog food for acid reflux for the money.
The ingredients in this food are premium. The first is deboned turkey, then oatmeal, followed by turkey meal, brown rice, ground grain sorghum, and pork meal. You might notice that no corn, wheat, or soy are included, and neither are any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. It is also free of legumes, which can bother some dogs’ digestive systems. For these reasons, this is the best dog food for dogs with acid reflux for the money on sale this year.
- Some pups do not prefer the pumpkin
- All ingredients are premium and target health and flavor
- Pumpkin adds in probiotics and prebiotics for digestion
- Plenty of protein and fat to reinforce your pup’s systems
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Calm Formula Dog Food — Premium Choice
Royal Canin is regularly featured as a healthy choice for any dog. Its veterinary diet is meant to calm the digestive systems of the dogs eating it. The food does this by including two amino acids that help pets maintain an emotional and physical balance.
One of these is an alpha-casozepine amino acid chain. It is derived from cow’s milk and has been studied and proven to have a calming effect on animals. L-tryptophan is more common but is also known to have calming effects. On top of these, the formula includes nicotinamide or vitamin B3. It calms the central nervous system.
Generated by veterinarians, this premium formula will cost you a premium price. It is, however, formulated to do more than calm. It helps dogs who have skin sensitivities and urinary and digestive issues. Unfortunately, it does contain chicken by-product meal and wheat gluten, both of which are controversial ingredients.
Overall, the food has a crude protein level of 23% and crude fat of 14%. The fiber is slightly lower than in the previously featured foods at 3.3%.
- Costly price compared to similar products
- Generated specifically for calming properties
- Veterinarian approved and formulated
- Helps dogs with digestive, urinary, and skin issues
Ziwi Peak Beef Recipe Canned Dog Food
Sometimes, your dog just needs or wants wet food. And, with acid reflux, wet food can be helpful because it’s easier to digest and coats the stomach lining to keep bile and acid from rising.
But, finding a chicken-free wet food that offers prebiotics and is filler-free can be difficult. So try Ziwi Peak Canned dog food.
This wet option follows a whole-prey formula — using the bones, organs, and cartilage of real fresh beef. Plus, they include New Zealand green-lipped mussels — an easy-to-digest animal protein.
And these meats offer natural sources of chondroitin, DHA, EPA, and glucosamine. These promote flexible joints, strong muscles, brain function, and gut health.
For digestive health, this formula also includes dried kelp. This is rich in fiber and natural antioxidants, which boost immune support. Plus, fiber aids in healthier digestion.
Chickpeas offer a grain-free solution for soluble fiber as well — raffinose. This provides good bacteria in your dog’s stomach to digest food slowly, which helps keep your dog from regurgitating their food.
This formula is added to and stored in BPA-free cans. It doesn’t include potatoes, soy, or other cheap fillers.
Pet parents enjoy that this food is high in protein and has beneficial fats for their dogs’ joint health. Many love that the formula is chicken-free, too — since chicken is an animal protein that affects their dogs’ tummies.
Hill’s Prescription Diet Digestive Care Canned Dog Food
Hill’s Digestive Care Stress is formulated to help dogs that deal with acid reflux due to stress. Stressors can negatively impact their entire system and overall health. That is why this canned food was created. Notice that it is specifically engineered for small dogs.
Stress has the capacity to cause an imbalance in the intestinal microflora and thus increase intestinal movement. This combination causes digestive upset.
This food is made with only highly digestible ingredients to make it easier for a pup. It is low in fat at 1.4% to help control unruly fluctuations in weight, and then enriched with prebiotic fiber to improve digestive flow. The total crude fiber is 1.2% maximum.
- Primarily meant for small dogs
- Meant to aid easy digestion
- Works to reduce the negative effects of stress
- Low fat controls weight gains and fluctuations
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Recovery Canned Dog Food
An offering from Royal Canin, this Veterinary Diet mix is meant for recovery. Even though dogs and cats have different overall requirements, they need many of the same things when it comes to recovering from a bad bout of acid reflux.
The food is in an ultra-soft mousse form, mixed with a sauce that makes it more palatable. It is suitable for dogs, cats, kittens, and puppies that may have lost their appetite after enduring difficult times. It can also appeal to picky pets.
The food contains a high protein level for wet food at 9.4%, so they do not lose too much muscle mass while they are recovering. The first ingredients include water, chicken, chicken liver, gelatin, and powdered cellulose.
- Water is the first ingredient
- Veterinarian formulated for pet recovery
- Made to suit all ages of cats and dogs
- Ultra-soft mousse texture for easy eating and digesting
Holistic Select Adult & Puppy Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
With acid reflux, it’s essential to avoid foods that cause too much stomach acid that can cause trouble. These ingredients include proteins like beef and chicken and other components like grains or legumes for many dogs.
Holistic Select Natural Grain-Free dry dog food keeps your dog healthy without the use of ingredients that could hurt their tummy or increase acid secretion. And bonus points! The formula is safe for both puppies and adult dogs — so you can feed your dog for years with the same recipe.
This dry food starts with real and fresh salmon. This offers a novel protein — along with anchovy and sardine meals — to soothe the tummy and make this food easier to digest. And these animal proteins provide omega fatty acids and taurine for heart health and joint support.
For developing puppies, this formula also includes DHA. This is an essential amino acid for growing pups — helping build cognitive function.
Instead of simple carbohydrates in grains, potatoes, pea fiber, and peas offer easily digestible carbs and prebiotic fiber for sensitive tummies.
And flaxseed, vitamin E oil, and probiotics provide additional digestive tract support and help reduce inflammation in the joints that work against environmental allergies and intolerances.
Dog parents love that the animal proteins are wild-caught and sourced right in the US. And many noted that they’ve had their dog on this food for years, with no gut problems.
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Critical Nutrition Canned Dog Food
Eating the right food will help your pup recover faster from acid reflux. Purina makes its Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Critical Nutrition food for dogs and cats that need an extra health boost.
The food is wet with a smooth consistency that makes it easier to feed through a syringe if necessary. It was made together with nutritionists, veterinarians, and researchers to provide everything that a pup could need.
Unfortunately, it does include meat and poultry by-products. The protein level is only 9.5%, and the fat level is higher than most recovering animals need at 7.5%.
This food has special amino acids that are needed in excess for tissue repair, vital when acid reflux has caused copious damage to the esophagus lining. Beyond these aminos, the food is packed with healthy antioxidants and several high-fat ingredients to provide plenty of energy for a healing dog or cat’s systems.
- Includes meat and poultry by-products
- Lower amounts of protein and a high amount of fat
- Formulated for both dogs and cats
- Smooth texture for a variety of feeding methods
- Includes amino acids that help augment tissue repair
Halo Holistic Adult Dry Dog Food
This holistic adult dog food might come with a premium price, but it is among the best options. It is made with chicken and chicken liver, meant for dogs over 1 year old. The chicken is sustainably raised and cage-free, as well as being the first ingredient in this food.
The food focuses on the health of your dog down to the last vegetable. All of them are non-GMO and from the garden, full of nourishing oils to help ease digestion and control a healthy coat and skin. These include carrots, blueberries, and cranberries, to name a few.
The protein level is high enough for a dog at 25%, and the crude fat is 15%, with crude fiber higher at 5%.
In all the foods from Halo, there is a DreamCoat supplement that is filled with fatty acids and nutrients. This helps make digestion easier and aids the health of your pup’s skin and coat. There are no artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors in this food; neither are there any meat-meals, hormones, or antibiotics.
- Premium price for the food
- High amount of protein
- Supplements for healthy skin and coat
- Doesn’t include anything artificial, meat-meals, hormones, or antibiotics
Buyer’s Guide – Choosing the Best Foods for Dogs with Acid Reflux
Buying food for a pet recovering from abnormal health can be difficult if you do not know what to look for. It is most important to give them a balanced diet. In the case of acid reflux, giving them something easier to digest can help stave off some of the issues caused by the symptom.
What to Avoid
- Dogs are not easily able to process food that isn’t natural. They struggle with heavily processed foods. Avoid diets that have controversial preservatives.
- It would be best if you also avoid sugars. Dogs do not naturally eat anything with sugar in it. Whether the source is natural or synthetic, sugar does not go down well. It has also been proven to trigger acid reflux symptoms.
- If your pup is experiencing other acid reflux symptoms regularly, then it can be worth it to investigate whether they have food sensitivities. Remove potential culprits one at a time to target the problem.
- Typically, it is good to avoid food that contains gluten because it can be difficult for dogs to digest. Their ancestors would rarely consume anything with grain in the wild unless their food had consumed it first. You need the food for a dog that struggles with acid reflux to be as easily digestible as possible.
Protein
- The protein level in dog food is always important because they should always have more muscle than fat. Dogs that are recovering or fighting health problems require even more protein than normal. The increase in protein helps offset the lack of activity that they might outwardly be doing.
- Their bodies need extra fortification to stay strong in the face of what they battle. It also helps keep up their muscle mass while they are confined to a bed.
Stress Reducers
- Certain ingredients can be added to a portion of food to eliminate some of the effects that stress can have. Stress can come from many sources for a dog. For example, if they struggle with separation anxiety and you are gone regularly, they might get themselves worked up daily. This eventually wreaks havoc on all their systems, including the digestive system.
- One example of a dog food additive that reduces the effects of stress on the system is ashwagandha. It is an ayurvedic herb that helps control the levels of cortisol in your pup. It has been shown to increase acid levels in the dog’s guts.
- There are other ingredients that can help reduce stress for pups as well. Amino acids from milk can help bring down and control cortisol.
Pinpoint Deficiencies
- Perhaps your dog has some type of nutritional deficiency. These can come from certain genetics, or they might be from food that doesn’t satisfy their needs. Either way, it is worth considering and paying attention to food that can ease their pain.
- Possible deficiencies that can play a role in acid reflux are zinc, vitamin D, and low dietary fiber, among others. Many dog foods created to help pups with stomach problems have increased amounts of fiber.
- Another potential major player is a deficiency in magnesium. Little amounts of magnesium in the body make for slow motility in the gut. When this happens, there will be imbalances in stomach acid. Be careful with any magnesium supplements, though, since it can act as a muscle relaxant, which is not always a good thing for dogs struggling with acid reflux.
Probiotics and Enzymes
- Part of the secret to a healthy gut in dogs and humans lies in the balance of the gut’s microbiota. A healthy ecology on the inside means a happier dog on the outside. Not only does it aid in the digestion of food, but it also supports immunity by preventing bad bacteria and yeast from getting out of control.
- Adding probiotics and prebiotics to food can be great for overall digestion and health, although researchers have not yet pinpointed precisely how it relates to supporting stomach acid.
- Enzymes have been shown to help lower the risk of acid reflux symptoms. The power of this addition is especially true for those furry friends that struggle with food intolerances, sensitivities, or allergies.
Supplying your beloved pet with the nutrition they need to stay balanced is an excellent way to support them. If you want to do this by giving them the best food, such as CANIDAE All Life Stages Formula Dry Dog Food, they will thank you even more.
Sometimes, finding an easier option on the budget helps make supporting your pup easier for both of you. Try American Natural Premium Dry Dog Food.
Ultimately, if your dog is struggling with acid reflux, it is necessary to get them to a vet for treatment. They will be able to give you more support and pinpoint exactly what is causing such disruptive health issues. From there, you can work together to change it and make life better for your furry life companion.
Do not understand how this is the best value since it is the same/more expensive than first and other items on the list…
