Best Dog Food for Boston Terriers With Sensitive Stomach [2023 Review]

Boston Terriers are one among other breeds with a sensitive stomach. It happens when your dog can’t handle different varieties of ingredients in their food. The digestive system works quite harder than its normal function. As responsible owners, it’s my job to make sure my dog gets the right food. 

Best Dog Food for Boston Terriers with a Sensitive Stomach

If your Boston Terrier has a sensitive stomach, a bland diet such as boiled plain chicken or a small amount of canned pumpkin will work as a short-term solution. I would recommend consulting a vet for food and diet plans good for your dog. 

If you don’t have the time or money to prepare boiled chicken for your Boston, here is the best food you can purchase for a sensitive stomach Boston:

To know more about foods appropriate for your Boston Terrier’s sensitive stomach, keep reading.

Commercial Dog Foods for Sensitive Stomach

Choose dog foods for Boston Terriers that claim to be complete and balanced. It ensures your dog gets a well-balanced diet to reduce the risk of sensitive stomachs and promotes healthy digestion. Don’t forget to check the label to check things like fat content, protein, and fiber. 

Home Cooked Meals

Cooking meals for your dog helps you control what ingredients to incorporate. It’s suggested to make a bland diet like a boiled chicken without any seasoning.

Just make sure the meal you prepare includes the necessary nutrients your dog needs. The best way to know what meals to give your dog is by consulting a vet. 

Prescription Diets from Vets

In some cases, commercial dog foods and home-cooked meals aren’t effective. This is the time your vet will prescribe a diet for your dog’s sensitive stomach. Prescription diets are like special diets intended for a particular purpose. Prescription diets include:

• Limited Ingredient Diet— a special diet that exposes your dog to food with a reduced number of ingredients. This diet is good for dogs whose sensitive stomach is caused by food intolerance.
• Hypoallergenic Foods— the protein component of these foods split into basic amino acid building blocks and the harmful ingredients are covered. This way, the immune system won’t see those bad ingredients and reduce the allergic reaction in your dog. 

Making Your Dog Transition to Different Food

Gradually transition your dog to the new food. You can start by giving your dog 10-20 percent new food with 80-90 percent of the old food. From there, slowly change the ratio until you fully transition to the new one. 

Transitioning to other dog foods is necessary because you might switch food from time to time until your dog finally gets the diet that he likes. 

Bad Foods for Sensitive Stomach

Knowing which foods are bad for your Boston Terrier’s stomach is as important as knowing what the good foods are. This will guide you on what foods to avoid to make sure your Boston Terrier doesn’t go back to the problem of a sensitive stomach. 

To avoid sensitive stomach in your dog, avoid foods that contain:

• Gluten
• Soy
• Dairy
• Food coloring
• Artificial flavors
• Some animal protein
• Genetically modified ingredients

With the knowledge of the bad foods to avoid, let me dive into some of the best foods for dogs with sensitive stomachs. 

Best Dog Food for Boston Terriers with Sensitive Stomachs

Natural Balance Limited Ingredient

The safest food recommendation for a Boston Terrier with a sensitive stomach is the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet. These high-quality dog foods have limited ingredients, making it easy for Boston terriers with sensitive stomachs to digest compared to standard dog foods. 

The food contains a wide range of animal protein sources, providing your dog with the essential amino acids it requires for muscle development and the overall normal functioning of your dog’s body. 

Keeping in mind that boston terriers with sensitive stomachs also have irritable skin and allergies, like the Wellness Natural pet food, the food contains flaxseed which has high levels of omega 6 fatty acid and linoleic acid, improving the health condition of your dog’s skin and coat and maintain the optimal health. 

With a single animal protein source, and no gluten, soy, grain, artificial colors or flavors, this food reduces the chances of your boston terriers farting as it tries to relieve the pressure on the gastrointestinal tract.

Pros

• The food doesn’t contain artificial additives that can affect the dog’s stomach
• The fatty acids helps to improve the coat and overall health of the dog

Cons

• Like the Hill’s Science Diet, the high Omega fatty acid levels can make your dog have a fishy smell
• The salmon oil ingredient might not suit some dogs with sensitive stomachs

Purina Pro Plan Dry Dog Food

The Purina Pro Plan Dry Dog Food is fortified with live probiotics, improving your dog’s intestinal health and offering support to your dog’s cells that line the dog’s gut while preventing bad bacteria from entering your dog’s blood. Carbohydrates can cause pressure in the Boston terrier’s gastrointestinal system making the dog gassy. 

Fortunately, the Purina Pro Plan Dry Dog food is a high-quality dog food that is free from corn, soy, and wheat, reducing the chances of farting as the dog tries to release the excess gas. 

Unlike Hill’s Science Diet, the food contains oatmeal which is a great grain-free alternative for Bostons with sensitive stomachs, providing your dog with the energy it requires in daily activities. 

Like the wellness natural pet food, this food is made with great-tasting turkey and salmon as the first ingredients, offering gentle nutrition and support to your dog’s sensitive system and overall health. 

This food is available in specialized formulas for seniors, adults, and puppies, ensuring the dog doesn’t get overwhelmed with nutrients for its age. 

However, this food comes in small pellets, and considering that Boston terriers are speedy eaters, they tend to swallow excess air along with the small-sized pellets and develop stomach issues. 

Pros

• The food contains good-tasting salmon and turkey ingredients which improves the flavor of the food, making it pleasant to a dog that might have lost appetite due to stomach issues
• The oatmeal present in this food provides your dog with the sufficient energy it requires for exercises

Cons

• The small-sized pellets tend to trap air, making the dog swallow excess air and become gassy
• The food is excessively dry and might not be the best to feed your Boston terrier after vigorous exercises

Hill’s Science Diet

The Hill’s Science Diet is a great source of prebiotic fiber that nourishes the good bacteria naturally found in the gut, improving digestion and strengthening your dog’s immune system. Boston terriers with sensitive stomachs may be allergic to some foods, which is sometimes displayed by the poor condition of the coat and skin. 

Fortunately, like the Purina Pro Plan Dry Dog food, the food contains omega-6 fatty acids and vitamin E, which help boost the immune system and improve the health condition of the dog’s coat and skin. 

Most processed dog foods may be difficult for your dog to digest as they do not contain the required nutrients. Also, they contain extra fibers, which can lead to loose stools, colon cancer, and gastrointestinal system issues. 

Luckily, like the wellness natural pet food, this food is made with natural ingredients that help enhance a healthy digestive system and easy bowel movements. 

The food contains chicken and barley flavors with a truly authentic taste, keeping the food sweet and pleasurable. However, if consumed excessively, the food might cause severe diarrhea to your Boston terrier.

Pros

• The prebiotic fiber in the food nourishes the helpful bacteria in the gut, enhancing the ease of food digestion
• The food contains Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids that help in reducing inflammation and preventing heart diseases.

Cons 

• It might cause discomfort and severe diarrhea to some Bostons if consumed excessively
• Unlike the solid Gold Dry dog food, the pellets might be too hard for Boston terrier puppies to bite

Wellness Natural Pet Food

The Wellness Natural Pet Food contains limited ingredients, consisting of one protein source and one easily digestible carbohydrate source, making it ideal for dogs with diagnosed food allergies or sensitive stomachs. 

Keeping in mind that Boston terriers with sensitive stomachs may develop food intolerance triggered by certain ingredients, unlike the Solid Gold grain-free dog food, the limited ingredient diet also helps you narrow down what might or might not be causing the stomach issues to your dog. 

Like the Purina Pro Plan dry dog food, the oatmeal in this food contains vitamin B and linoleic acid, which is a type of omega-6 fatty acid that helps to maintain the health of your dog’s coat and skin. 

Regardless of how regularly you feed your Boston terrier, it is food obsessed and might eat anything it finds on its way, exposing it to more toxins. Fortunately, this food contains essential antioxidants, which help improve your dog’s immune system and help fight food allergies and toxins. 

However, the food is nutritionally dense and might cause obesity if given to the dog in large amounts.

Pros

• The limited-ingredient diet makes it suitable for Boston terriers with food allergies
• The helpful antioxidants in this food help improve your dog’s immune system

Cons

• The food is nutritionally dense and might make the dog overweight if given in large amounts 
• The high levels of Omega fatty acids might make the dog have a fishy smell, especially when it sweats

Solid Gold Dry Dog Food

Like the wellness natural pet food, the Solid Gold Dry dog food is loaded with antioxidants that help to improve your pet’s immune system. Boston terriers with sensitive stomachs are allergic to corn and wheat, which are the common ingredients present in standard dog foods. 

Usually, grains can cause serious digestive system issues and awful-smelling gas and farts. The Solid Gold Dry dog food contains grain-free ingredients, reducing the chances of the dog being gassy and farting. 

Unlike grain-based dog foods that can make the dog’s coat dull and rough, this grain-free dog food contains plenty of omega fatty acids that make your dog’s coat healthy and shiny. Sensitive tummies can result from the dog’s inability to digest food, ending up in diarrhea or excessive farting. 

Unlike Hill’s Science Diet, this food contains helpful probiotics, providing your dog with friendly bacteria that improve the overall digestion of food. However, the high amounts of protein in this dog food might increase urea levels that overwork the kidneys, leading to kidney problems or failure. 

Pros

• The grain and gluten-free kibbles in this food are smaller in size, relieving you of the fears of your Boston terrier being choked when consuming them
• The helpful probiotics in this food help improve your pet’s gut health and balance the friendly bacteria in the digestive tract

Cons

• The high protein amounts might increase urea, interfering with the normal kidney functioning of your dog
• The smell of the chicken flavor might be unpleasant to some Boston terriers

Different Causes of Stomach Sensitivity

Many dogs, including the Boston Terrier, have sensitive stomachs caused by a particular food ingredient. While this is true to some dogs, others might have an underlying health condition that is the primary cause of a sensitive stomach.

This is the reason why I encourage you to see a vet for a proper examination regarding this matter first. 

If your dog hasn’t fallen under any serious conditions like stomach cancer, a sensitive stomach could be one of the following reasons below. 

Food Intolerance 

Some dogs may be sensitive to a particular ingredient like preservatives, coloring or even the main ingredient. This food intolerance can happen at any age and with any food ingredient involved.

Insufficient or Too Much Food Nutrients 

A sensitive stomach of your dog may have been caused by your dog food’s insufficient or too much food nutrients such as vitamins, fiber and fats. 

Food Allergy 

Allergy is the immune system’s reaction to a particular protein. One sign includes stomach sensitivity. It may not manifest at first but it develops over time ranging from months to years. However, food allergies are common to dogs under one year old.

Symptoms of a Sensitive Stomach

Your dog will exhibit the following symptoms if it’s experiencing a sensitive stomach.

• Bloated
• Gassy or Flatulence
• Increase of inactivity
• Diarrhea 
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain signs
• Gurgling noises

Your dog may exhibit any of these or multiple all at once. Diarrhea and vomiting can be a sign of a more severe condition. You should consult your vet right away even if your dog shows flatulence. It can be a sign of a serious underlying disease. 

Related Questions

Conclusions

It’s best to consult your veterinarian for a proper diet or prescription for your Boston Terrier sensitive stomach. The stomach sensitivity to food might mean an underlying health condition that diets alone can’t cure.

Whatever foods or diets you’d like to try, always consult the vet first. Your vet knows what’s best for your Boston Terrier health.