Natural senior dog food
'Natural' senior dog food generally means a recipe built around named animal ingredients and fewer artificial additives, aimed at an older dog's slightly different needs. We stock two ranges that fit this description for senior dogs: Nature's Menu, and Naturediet's Feel Good range, and while both lean toward natural, simple ingredient lists, they take fairly different approaches.
Nature's Menu's senior recipe
Nature's Menu's senior offering is built around named meat with vegetables and rice, aimed at a complete, balanced meal for an older dog rather than a specific therapeutic diet. It sits within a wider range that also covers raw and freeze-dried formats, so if your dog is already used to a Nature's Menu product in another format, the senior recipe follows a similar ingredient philosophy.
This kind of recipe suits an owner looking for a straightforward complete wet food with a shorter, more recognisable ingredients list than some mainstream senior diets carry.
Naturediet's Feel Good senior range
Naturediet's Feel Good Senior recipe follows the same 'natural' positioning — a simple ingredients list built around named meat, without a long list of artificial additives — and the wider Feel Good range also covers grain-free and puppy formulations, so households with dogs of different ages sometimes use several products from the same range.
Both ranges describe themselves this way for broadly similar reasons: owners looking for a senior food that reads clearly on the label, without needing to decode a long list of unfamiliar ingredient names.
What actually changes for a senior dog
A genuinely senior-appropriate recipe generally adjusts calorie density for a less active older dog, and often includes ingredients aimed at joint support, alongside continuing to provide good-quality protein, since older dogs still need adequate protein rather than less of it.
Whichever range you choose, checking that it's specifically labelled for senior dogs, rather than an all-life-stages product, is the more reliable way to judge suitability than the word 'natural' alone. If your dog has an existing health condition, it's worth checking any new senior food against your vet's advice before switching over fully.
For this need
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Forthglade Cold Pressed Natural Turkey
Cold-pressed turkey kibble for dogs from 2 months, soft enough to mix with water for young pups
£45.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Salmon
Cold-pressed grain-free dry food for dogs, built on fresh and dried salmon
From£16.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Duck
Cold-pressed grain-free duck food with fruit and botanicals, in two bag sizes
From£16.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Chicken
Cold-pressed grain-free chicken food with fruit and botanicals, in three bag sizes
From£16.99
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Turkey
A lightly baked complete dry food, 50% turkey, for adult dogs of any breed
From£12.49
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Chicken
A grain-free complete dry food for adult dogs, lightly baked and built on 50% chicken
From£12.49
Forthglade Cold Pressed Small Dog Turkey
Cold-pressed grain-free dry food for small dogs and puppies, built on turkey
£16.99
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Lamb
A lightly baked complete dry food, 50% lamb, for adult dogs of any breed
From£12.49
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Turkey
Grain-free cold-pressed turkey kibble for dogs, gentle on sensitive stomachs
£69.69
Forthglade British Classics Chicken Family Lunch
Complete Forthglade wet dog food with 75% chicken in a 395G tray
£2.45
Harringtons Puppy Turkey & Rice
Complete turkey puppy food with 30% protein and feeding bands by adult weight
£6.49
Harringtons Adult Dog Turkey Veg
Complete dry food for adult dogs with turkey, chicken and salmon oil, 21% protein
From£3.39
Common questions
- What does 'natural' actually mean on a dog food label?
- It isn't a strictly regulated term in the same way 'complete' or 'organic' are, so it generally signals a shorter ingredients list with fewer artificial additives rather than a guaranteed nutritional standard. Reading the actual ingredients list matters more than the word itself.
- At what age should I switch my dog to a senior food?
- This varies by breed and size — larger breeds are often considered senior earlier, sometimes from around six or seven, while smaller breeds may not need the switch until nine or ten. Your vet can advise based on your individual dog.
- Is Nature's Menu or Naturediet better for a senior dog?
- Both are reasonable, natural-positioned options with broadly similar philosophies, so the better fit often comes down to which recipe and format (wet food, texture, specific protein) your individual dog prefers and does well on, rather than one being objectively superior.
- Do senior dogs need less protein?
- Not generally — current veterinary thinking favours maintaining good-quality protein for senior dogs to help preserve muscle mass, rather than reducing it. What typically changes is calorie density and sometimes added joint support, not protein levels.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.