The last sensitive dog food you'll ever need to try

There are many reasons your dog might have a sensitive stomach.

• Breed specific sensitivities – While there’s no single breed that’s guaranteed to face sensitivity issues, some have a genetic makeup that makes it more likely. We tend to help a lot of french bulldogs, staffys, boston terriers and boxers.
• Food allergies – Only 10% of tummy upsets are legit allergies to food. It’s typically more serious than your average sensitive gut and presents as itching or respiratory issues like coughing, wheezing, sneezing or runny noses.
• Food intolerances – Much more common, less medically serious than allergies and usually localised in the gut. They can show up as chronic diarrhoea or constipation; irregular or too-frequent pooing; anal gland issues, or even behavioural issues caused by discomfort. You might not even realise your dog has a food intolerance until you switch to a more suitable food and experience poo perfection. 🧘
• Low quality, inflammatory ingredients – Most are tough to avoid in commercial dog food, and pretty much impossible in the stuff you find at the supermarket. Frequent exposure can send a sensitive gut into a downwards spiral, chipping away at healthy gut bacteria overtime and building up a harmful immune response.
• Dodgy dog food labelling – The industry is self-regulated and labels are often clear as mud. With vague terms like ‘and/or’, ‘palatants’ or ‘animal fats’, it makes knowing what you’re actually feeding your dog hard to know and avoiding inflammatory ingredients a hell of a lot harder. You may be unknowingly feeding them something you’ve been trying to avoid.

Yep. It’s common for dogs to develop sensitive stomachs as they get older – even to foods they’ve been enjoying for ages. This process can be accelerated if they’ve been eating food with inflammatory ingredients or foods they’re already a little intolerant to. Just like your golden oldie’s joints, eyes and teeth show signs of age, so does their digestive system.

The first move is switching to a food that nurtures a healthy gut, rather than chipping away at it. Beyond that, feeding a diet rich in fibre, probiotics, natural preservatives and no artificial hormones (like Scratch!) can make a big impact.

Thousands of Aussie dogs with chronically sensitive stomachs have reaped the benefits of switching to Scratch. Our recipes are formulated to be as mild, low-inflammatory and as low-irritating as possible. They work in three core ways:

1. Using high-quality ingredients that can help with short-term relief like premium human-grade meat, flaxseed, sunflower and salmon oils and DHA.
2. High-fibre recipes to feed healthy gut bacteria, helping sensitive (and bog-standard) stomachs build up resilience over time.
3. Using less or novel animal proteins to minimise potential triggers like our single-protein Lamb, novel single-protein Roo or hypoallergenic Fish.

The end result is a powerful formula for ultimate gut wellbeing. Removing the most common sensitive tummy triggers, including premium ingredients to ease symptoms, and over time correct the cause.

Some owners have seen benefit from moving to a grain-free, lower carbohydrate diet to control inflammation. Other dogs benefit from the unique fibre & soothing properties of whole ancient grains. There’s no single answer to whether grain-free food is better or worse for sensitive stomachs – that’s down to each individual dog.

Any food can trigger an allergy, intolerance or reaction. That said, there are a few notorious culprits. Of dogs with reactions, the most common causes are beef (34%), dairy (17%), chicken (15%) and wheat (13%).