Last Updated: 02/06/2025
Vet Picks: Best Senior Dog Food
Want the best food for your senior dog? Read these top tips to help maintain your dog's health.
Author: Dr Teagan Lever BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 50 minutes - long read
Last Updated: 02/06/2025
Want the best food for your senior dog? Read these top tips to help maintain your dog's health.
Author: Dr Teagan Lever BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 50 minutes - long read
As dogs age, their nutritional needs change, requiring a diet that supports their health and vitality. With advances in veterinary care, our dogs are living for longer than ever before. Unfortunately along with old age comes conditions such as arthritis, muscle wastage, hearing and vision loss and cognitive decline. Traditionally most pet parents have taken for granted that all old dogs 'slow down' to some extent, but recent breakthroughs in canine nutrition have shown that this no longer has to be the case.
With the plethora of dietary options available, selecting the best senior dog food can be daunting. This article aims to simplify the process by exploring key factors to consider when choosing food for your senior canine companion. From understanding the unique nutritional requirements of older dogs to deciphering ingredients, we'll provide insights to help you make an informed decision. Whether your senior dog prefers wet, dry, or a combination of both, this guide will assist you in selecting the ideal diet to keep your furry friend healthy and happy in their golden years.
Senior dogs have different nutritional requirements compared to when they were a young, active puppy and adult. They are often less active and have a slower metabolism which means that they require fewer calories and less fat to prevent excessive weight gain, but an easily digestible, high quality diet to help them maintain good muscle condition.
Our senior dogs also tend to suffer more from joint issues, with 2 out of 3 dogs over the age of 7 having some degenerative joint disease, or arthritis. So, joint support utilising one or more ingredients such as glucosamine, chondroitin, green lipped mussel, green tea extract, vitamins with potent antioxidant effects and omega fatty acids become an important part of supporting dogs through the ageing process. Research has shown that joint support ingredients included within the diet actually have more benefit than those taken as supplements alongside the diet.
The brain cells of young adult dogs utilise glucose from the bloodstream in order to carry out their functions, such as memory, learning and decision making. Research has shown that over time as dogs age, their brains become less efficient at utilising glucose as an energy source which in turn causes signs of cognitive decline.
Our Pet Circle Vet Squad comprises 10 vets with decades of collective, independent veterinary expertise. Our Vet team use their health and husbandry knowledge, along with their own personal and clinical experiences to evaluate each product and provide detailed, informative reviews, free of any commercial bias. We then collate this information into our 'best of' recommendations.
Oxidative damage, reduced brain mass and blood flow, and the accumulation of toxic substances can all cause age-related changes to the brains of ageing dogs. The brain also becomes less able to metabolise glucose as an energy source, and all these factors together contribute to cognitive dysfunction - what we would call dementia in humans. Pro Plan have developed their Bright Minds senior dog food range to help combat these changes. The Pro Plan senior dog foods contain enhanced botanical oils (also known as medium chain triglycerides) to provide the brain with an alternate energy source to glucose, along with antioxidants and other brain supporting nutrients, to support the brain to function at it's best.
Along with these cognitive benefits, the Pro Plan Bright Minds dog foods contain omega 3-fatty acids and glucosamine to support joint health and mobility, as 2 out of 3 dogs over the age of 7 suffer from some form of arthritis.
What our customers say: "I have been feeding this to my now 16 year old dog for nearly a year now. It has made a huge improvement in her health as far as her alertness, movement and coat condition. Thankful to have found it."
For dogs showing signs of cognitive dysfunction, including disorientation, confusion, pacing, loss of toilet training and excessive sleeping, it's important to have your best mate checked out by your vet. Your vet will ensure that there are no other causes to explain these symptoms, and may prescribe Hills Prescription Brain Aging Care Dry Food.
This is a specialised therapeutic diet with a combination of mitochondrial cofactors, antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids proven to help support cognitive function and reduce age related behavioural changes in older dogs. As it is a prescription diet, it needs to be recommended specifically by your treating veterinarian.
To find out more, check out our article about Cognitive Dysfunction in Dogs.
Dominating the market for their range of senior dog foods, Royal Canin offer varieties for dogs of all breed sizes, in both mature and senior varieties. For small breed dogs under 10kg bodyweight, the Mini Adult 8+ and Ageing 12+ foods contain green tea polyphenols for joint support, along with antioxidants and enhanced palatability to satisfy the commonly fussy appetite of small breed dogs. The Ageing 12+ Mini variety also contains an adapted phosphorus content to support kidney function.
For medium sized dogs, the Medium 7+ contains green tea polyphenols for joint support, while the Ageing 10+ also includes glucosamine and chondroitin. Both the Maxi 5+ and Maxi 8+ contain green tea polyphenols and glucosamine and chondroitin, since large breed dogs are more prone to joint issues as they age.
Each of the Ageing varieties (Mini 12+, Medium 10+ and Maxi 8+) is also available in an equivalent wet food, ideal for mixed feeding. This is particularly helpful as dogs can become more fussy with food as they age, and wet food can help to increase palatability and overall acceptance of food.
All varieties contain antioxidants to help fight the ageing process. Unfortunately, all the varieties are poultry-based so they are not suitable for dogs with sensitivities to poultry proteins. Each variety also only comes in only one bag size option.
For dogs with diagnosed arthritis, prescription mobility diets offer a greater level of joint support, so we would recommend speaking with your vet about the best dietary options for your dog in these cases. Diets such as the Hills Joint Care Diets and Royal Canin Mobility Support contain therapeutic levels of joint support ingredients.
To find out more, check out our article all about Arthritis in Dogs.
What our customers say: "After trying ALL the other aged dog foods this one excelled. Dry food was gentler on his teeth and the wet food he loved. Pricey, but compared to all I have wasted over the years - I am now saving... anyone who is in the same boat and has tried everything including gourmet chicken and raw should try this. "
What our vets say: "I like to recommend the Royal Canin ageing dry food range for senior dogs for several reasons. Firstly, Royal canin is a premium brand of dog food which is highly nutritious and based on the individual dog's life stage and suited to that. For example, our giant breed dogs age faster than our smaller breeds so there is a maxi adult 5yrs + and 9yrs+ option (for our large breed dogs) and small breed having an 8yrs+ and 12yrs+ option. All the senior diets are formulated to help prevent age related loss of muscle mass which all dogs will experience with ageing. They also contain omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and glucosamine to help your dog stay active by supporting their bones and joints. The kibble size is related to the breed size with the mini ageing 12 plus diet having a unique kibble which is rehydratable and has exclusive flavours to stimulate appetite in our ageing small breed dogs. All the senior dry food range contains nutrients to bind salivary calcium which helps to reduce dental tartar formation for good oral health." - Dr. Angie
Every Open Farm product is proudly produced with a focus on transparent sourcing and traceability, humane production animal welfare standards, ethically sourced ingredients, and sustainable fishing practices in line with Ocean Wise Standards. For an environmentally friendly, grain-free senior dog food, you can't go past this one.
Alongside their environmentally friendly values, Open Farm foods are made with the most premium proteins and superfoods, providing the highest quality ingredients for your dog. Their recipes are free from grain, corn, wheat and soy.
Along with glucosamine, chondroitin and green lipped mussel for joint support, the Open Farm Senior dog food also contains flaxseed, salmon and coconut oil for skin support, as well as ingredients for gut support.
On the down side, the Open Farm foods are expensive options, though you do 'get what you pay for' with the highest quality, premium ingredients. The Open Farm foods are also not made locally - they are imported from Canada.
What our customers say: "I am very happy to have found this dry food for my dog. The quality and the mix of ingredients are great. My dog has a sensitive stomach and after several tries, this food has not given him any reaction and he loves it! Open Farm will always be my first choice. "
ADVANCE is a premium quality, Australian made product backed by over 45 years of experience and science to deliver the best nutrition to your dog. ADVANCE focuses on top of the range nutrition and providing for long term health with all of their diets using omega fatty acids and zinc for a healthy skin and coat, antioxidants for immune support, fermentable prebiotic fibres for healthy gut and a delicious, highly palatable formula to tempt even the fussiest eaters.
Whilst there are cheaper foods, we have chosen ADVANCE as the most affordable senior dog range, because we know that premium foods are the most beneficial to your dog's daily health. Supermarket foods, while they may look cheaper initially, often have batch inconsistencies that can lead to frequent tummy upsets and subsequent further expense. They use lower quality ingredients and poorly digestible nutrients that lead to you feeding more food to meet your dog's daily requirements, which makes them more expensive in the long run. The use of lower quality ingredients can also mean more wastage, with larger, smellier poops! Supermarket diets also often lack added supplements for health support such as joints, skin and coat, and dental as well. So, while you are looking to cut costs wherever you can, it is still important to ensure that your dog is receiving a nutritionally balanced and complete diet that is going to nourish them and keep them looking and feeling their best.
The ADVANCE range of senior foods contains ingredients to support many aspects of the ageing process, including DHA and antioxidants to support brain function, green lipped mussel powder to help maintain healthy joints, antioxidants to support a strong immune system and prebiotics to support healthy digestion for smaller, firmer stools.
What our customers say: "My 11 yo dog was struggling with jumping onto the couch and general mobility. Changed his diet to Advance and he's a puppy again."
What our vets say: "I love that Advance is Australian made, so you can support the local industry whilst feeding your dog a premium, nutrient-dense diet backed by science. Advance has a wide range of diets available so you can ensure you are choosing the best tailored diet for your dog's life stage, breed or health concern. Advance is a great option if you're looking for value for money, as it compares to the quality of other premium brands but often at a reduced price." - Dr Jacqui
Advance Healthy Ageing Single Serve trays are a great way to add variety to your senior dog's diet. They contain a tailored fat content, to help prevent excessive weight gain as dog's age, as activity levels do tend to drop with increasing age. The Advance Healthy Ageing wet food also contains antioxidants to help reduce the effects of ageing on the body.
I personally feed my senior dog the Advance Healthy Ageing Single Serve trays as her nightly meal, and it's safe to say, dinner time is her favourite time of the day. As taste and smell can reduce with age, offering food that is at it's freshest is ideal, and as this Advance food comes in single serves, it's easy to ensure that what you're offering is the freshest it can be.
On the downside, as it comes in single serve trays, the Advance Healthy Ageing wet food is more expensive than other premium senior wet foods that are available in cans per 100g, and also uses more packaging. The number of trays which would need to be fed to larger breed dogs may make this food uneconomical.
What our customers say: "Small but good for pill pockets or a lickymat - I have a senior greyhound who loves this product and it seems to agree with her stomach too."
What our vets say: "For our older dogs, I recommend Advance Healthy Ageing wet food trays to support their changing needs. It contains antioxidants to improve their brain health and nutrients for healthy digestion and strong immune system. Wet foods help to increase hydration which is beneficial for our golden oldies to support their kidney and urinary health." - Dr. Michelle
Small breed senior dogs have different requirements to large breed senior dogs, just as they do as puppies and throughout their adult years. Smaller breed dogs tend to live longer, and therefore can benefit from more antioxidants in their foods, to help reduce the oxidant effects leading to the signs of ageing over time. In contrast, as large breed dogs are more prone to joint issues in their senior years, they benefit more from joint support ingredients, and controlled calories, to reduce strain on their joints. Look for senior foods formulated specifically for your dog's size, to really target their nutrition to their needs.
For our top recommendations for small, medium and large breed senior dogs, take a look at our article on Senior Dog Care.
Particularly for medium to large breed senior dogs, look for senior foods which include a high level of joint support ingredients, such as green lipped mussel, green tea polyphenols, glucosamine and chondroitin.
For more information regarding joint support for senior dogs, read all about Arthritis in Dogs.
Senior dogs require a diet rich in high-quality protein to maintain lean muscle mass. Look for dog foods that list meat or meat meals (dehydrated, ground meat) as the primary ingredients.
Older dogs tend to be less active and may have slower metabolisms, making them more prone to weight gain. Opt for senior dog foods that are formulated with reduced calories and lower fat content to help manage weight.
Older dogs can benefit from a diet rich in antioxidants and essential vitamins, which help support their immune system and overall vitality. Look for dog foods that contain antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene.
Adding wet food to your senior dog's diet can help tempt fussy eaters and also keeps their water intake on track to support optimal hydration, which in turn helps to reduce the risk of urinary stones and kidney issues. Water intake in dogs can be lowered if their mobility is reduced due to arthritis or other health conditions, as they are less inclined to make their way to the water bowl for a drink. You can help by making sure that your senior dog has multiple bowls of fresh water around your home which are easy to access.
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Head Veterinarian, BVSc (Hons)
Pet Circle's Head Veterinarian, Dr Teagan graduated from the University of Queensland in 2010 and went on to work in small animal and mixed practice in various locations around QLD & ACT before joining Pet Circle in early 2016. Dr Teagan has special interests in dermatology, nutrition and preventative health care. She feels privileged to witness the special bond people share with their pets on a daily basis and enjoys forming lasting relationships with pet parents and their fur children.
