When Your Senior Raw Fed Dog Is Refusing to Eat

• Posted on 13 November 2025
• By Heidi Hammer
• Posted in bowlboosting, petnutrition, seniordog
• 0

When your previously enthusiastic raw fed senior dog starts losing their zest for food. Here we present strategies and tips to help...

There is nothing more worrisome to dog owners as when their number one friend decides to balk at food, the very thing they love and live for!  Today we present tips and strategies to bring that zest for food back and when to head to the vet for further testing. 

As always, please fully research appropriate proteins/strategies for your senior dog!  Every dog is different!  These tips are specific to raw fed dogs.   

Ways to Put Weight Back On - Try More Frequent, Smaller Meals

 1.) Increase fat intake

• Raw Pasteurized Egg Yolks
• Grass Fed Butter or Ghee
• Raw Goat Cream
• Sardine or Mackerel: whole raw

1/2 teaspoon per 10# of body weight:  any history of pancreatitis, SKIP pork fat, duck fat and chicken skin

2.) Increase Bioavailable Protein

• Grass Fed Beef Heart
• Green Tripe
• Rabbit
• Duck Gizzard
• Sardines | Smelts
• Goat

Aim for 1/4 - 1/3 of the bowl from meat/tripe combo 

3.)  Add Metabolic Support

(foods that help the body use calories)

• Beef Spleen
• Raw Pasture Raised Egg
• Collagen Rich Broth
• Raw Goat Kefir

If unexpected weight loss for no reason check the following:

• Dental Pain?
• Low Stomach Acid - Poor Digestion
• Arthritis - Burning m ore calories
• Thyroid Panel (not just the T4 test)
• Early Kidney Insufficiency
• Cancer Cachexia

If digestion seems off: apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon mixed into food 4X per week

Toppers for fast gain + little digestive upset:

• 1 raw pasture raised egg yolk + 1 tablespoon beef tallow melted/mixed in
• 2oz Raw Green Tripe + 2 oz Beef Heart
• 2 Tablespoons goat kefir + 1 sardine mashed
• 2oz Turkey Thigh + 1 teaspoon ghee

(Most senior dogs will bounce back on 1-2 of these per day)

Behavior Cues to Watch:

If a senior dog eats raw enthusiastically but walks away before finishing, that often signals:

Not enough fat - gets full before hitting caloric need

or mild nausea / reflux: needs digestive support(probiotic, goat milk, kefir)

• Try one teaspoon kefir
• warm water over food
• tiny dab of honey
• slippery elm(1/2 capsule) soothes stomach

Warm the food slightly on the stove (scent First Strategy) for 5-10 seconds(not microwave) Raw should stay cold but SMELL STRONGER - that’s the trick

Add a HIGH DRIVE TRIGGER:

• Sardine Juice or tuna water
• Freeze dried raw crumbs
• beef tallow(tiny warmed amount)
• bone broth
• duck fat

“Sit and Hand Start:”

For many seniors:

1.) Offer the first 3-4 bites from your hand or spoon

2.) Once the brain switches to “eating mode” put the bowl down

Switch Textures not brands:

soft wet texture instead of firm

For 24-72 Hours:

• lightly seared raw(just surface)
• fully cooked topers over raw
• 50/50 cooked + raw transition

If nothing works, this can be a medical “red siren”  A raw fed dog completely refusing food is one of the most reliable signs of:

• Dental Disease
• GI Upset or Pancreatitis
• Kidney Disease
• Cancer related Anorexia
• Pain/ Nausea

Other clues:

• Drinking more water
• Vomiting yellow Foam
• Loose Stool
• Restlessness or Hiding
• Sudden dislike of previously loved foods
•  

Get Bloodwork Immediately (CBC + Chem + SDMA + Full Thyroid panel - NOT just T4 only)

A raw fed dog refusing food is not a behavior problem - it’s information.  Either:

• They need a richer, smellier, fattier more exciting version of raw or
• Something inside of them hurts and needs attention