Royal Canin Digestive Care is a dry dog food for adult dogs with sensitive stomachs. It is built around highly digestible proteins plus a blend of prebiotics and fibers, and it can be a reasonable choice for a dog with mild digestive upset. It is not a treatment for illness, and a dog with ongoing vomiting or diarrhea needs a vet visit first.
What Is Royal Canin Digestive Care?
Digestive Care is part of Royal Canin’s Canine Care Nutrition line, which is sold in stores and online without a prescription. The medium breed adult formula is made for dogs 12 months and older that weigh about 23 to 55 pounds. Royal Canin also makes small breed versions and a wet food that can be mixed with the dry food.
Do not confuse it with Royal Canin’s Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal foods. Those are therapeutic diets that require vet authorization, and they are meant for dogs with diagnosed digestive problems.
What Is in It?
Based on the retailer listing for the medium breed adult recipe, the first ingredients are chicken by-product meal, corn, brewers rice, chicken fat, brown rice and corn gluten meal. The guaranteed analysis lists:
- Crude protein: 23.0% minimum
- Crude fat: 16.0% minimum
- Crude fiber: 3.7% maximum
- Moisture: 10.0% maximum
Royal Canin says the food uses highly digestible proteins and a prebiotic and fiber blend to support digestion. Its own listing claims that 91% of medium dogs fed Digestive Care had optimal stool quality. That is the manufacturer’s claim, not an independent study, so treat it as marketing until your own dog shows results. Recipes change, so always check the bag in your hands.
Pros and Cons
What we like
- Made specifically for sensitive stomachs, with digestibility as the focus
- Sold without a prescription
- Available in size-specific recipes and in a wet version
- Complete and balanced for adult dogs, according to the maker
What to watch
- It contains chicken by-product meal, corn and corn gluten meal, so it is not a fit for dogs with a chicken or grain allergy
- It is not a limited-ingredient or hydrolyzed diet
- It costs more than many grocery brands
- The fat level is on the higher side, so dogs that need a low-fat diet may need a different food
Who Is It Best For?
This food suits healthy adult dogs with a touchy stomach, soft stools or gas that have been checked by a vet and have no diagnosed condition. It is a poor match for puppies, dogs with food allergies, and dogs with pancreatitis or other conditions that call for a prescription diet.
How to Switch Your Dog
Change foods slowly over 5 to 7 days, mixing a little more of the new food into the old each day. A sudden swap can cause the very stomach upset you are trying to fix. Stop and call your vet if your dog vomits, has bloody stool, or stops eating.
Other Options
If your dog needs a vet-directed diet, read our reviews of Royal Canin Gastrointestinal dog food and the Gastrointestinal Low Fat formula. For another over-the-counter pick, see Iams Sensitive Stomach dog food.
Bottom Line
Royal Canin Digestive Care is a sensible, non-prescription option for adult dogs with mild digestive sensitivity, as long as they do not have chicken or grain allergies. If symptoms last more than a day or two, or your dog has a known condition, skip the experiment and ask your vet which diet is right.
This article is general information, not veterinary advice. Talk to your vet before changing your dog’s diet, especially if your dog has health problems.
