Senior food for a picky Westie aged 11

Senior dogs have genuinely different nutritional needs — typically lower calories, better digestibility, and more joint support — but when and how to transition depends heavily on the breed and what's already going on health-wise. A picky eater at 11 adds another layer, because the best food in the world is useless if your dog turns their nose up at it. To point you in the right direction: what breed and age is your dog, do they have any health conditions I should know about, and what are they currently eating?

That fussiness is really common in older small breeds — their sense of smell can dull slightly with age, and appetite can naturally decrease, so a bland dry kibble that she tolerated fine at four just doesn't excite her anymore. At 11, she's also at the point where a senior formula genuinely makes sense. For a Westie with no specific health concerns but a need for something more appetising, I'd switch her to a wet or mixed-feeding approach rather than just swapping one kibble for another. Can I ask — are you open to wet food, or would you prefer to stick with dry?

In that case, my clear recommendation is Lily's Kitchen Proper Chicken Dinner for Senior Dogs. It's a complete wet food made with around 60% named meat, genuinely smells appealing — which matters enormously for a dog whose interest in food has faded — and it's sized in small trays that stay fresh. The recipe is grain-free, easy to digest, and has added glucosamine and chondroitin for joint support, which is sensible at her age even if she seems fine now. For a Westie, one small tray per meal or mixed with a little of her current kibble to transition her across works well. The ingredients quality is noticeably higher than standard supermarket wet food, and fussy small dogs tend to respond well to it. It's widely available on Amazon UK in multipacks. I'd start with a mixed case to see which flavour she prefers before committing to a bulk buy.

You can do either, but for a picky dog I'd lean toward going predominantly wet — keeping a small amount of kibble in just for texture if she tolerates it, rather than as the main component. The risk with mixing 50/50 is that she picks around the kibble and leaves it, which defeats the point. Start with mostly wet, see how her appetite and stools settle over a week or two, then adjust. If her digestion is fine and she's eating eagerly, you're in a good place. If stools become loose, dial back the wet slightly and transition more gradually.

Good call — it's one of those products where the difference in enthusiasm is usually immediate. Keep an eye on her weight over the first month since wet food can sometimes mean they eat more readily than you expect, and senior dogs don't need excess calories. But for an 11-year-old Westie who's just gone off her food, getting her eating well again is the priority. Hope she loves it.