The most effective things you can give your dog to increase appetite range from simple kitchen fixes, like warm bone broth or a soft-boiled egg mixed into kibble, to veterinary medications specifically designed to trigger hunger. What works best depends on why your dog stopped eating in the first place. A dog that’s being picky needs a different approach than one fighting an illness.
Rule Out a Medical Problem First
Loss of appetite in dogs is one of the earliest and most common signs of illness. Kidney failure, liver disease, systemic infections, cancer, and gastrointestinal problems all suppress hunger. Dental issues are another frequent culprit: a broken tooth, a gum infection, or a tooth root abscess hiding below the gum line can make eating painful enough that your dog simply refuses food.
Most healthy adult dogs can safely go three to five days without eating, as long as they’re still drinking water. But if your dog hasn’t eaten in two days, even if they seem otherwise normal, that’s worth a call to your vet. For puppies or diabetic dogs, skipping even a single meal warrants immediate contact. And if your dog is also vomiting, having diarrhea, acting lethargic, has a swollen belly, or yelps when you touch their abdomen, treat it as an emergency.
Food Toppers That Encourage Eating
Sometimes all it takes is making the food more interesting. These are safe, vet-friendly additions you can mix into your dog’s regular meals:
- Low-sodium bone broth: Pour a few tablespoons over kibble. It adds moisture, flavor, and aroma. Make sure it contains no onion or garlic.
- Soft-boiled eggs: A highly bioavailable protein source. Cook for about six minutes so the white is set but the yolk stays runny, then crumble it over the food.
- Plain canned pumpkin: Not pie filling. Pure pumpkin is gentle on the stomach and adds flavor and fiber.
- Cooked unseasoned chicken or turkey: Shredded and mixed in, this is often enough to get a reluctant dog interested.
- Fresh berries or sliced apple: Berries are packed with antioxidants and many dogs love the taste. Avoid grapes and raisins entirely, as they can cause kidney failure.
- Cooked non-starchy vegetables: Broccoli, green beans, or carrots. Keep it to about a quarter cup per 10 pounds of body weight daily. Avoid anything in the onion family.
A general rule: toppers should make up no more than 10 to 15 percent of your dog’s daily calories so they don’t unbalance the diet.
Warm the Food Up
Dogs choose food largely by smell, and warming food releases more aromatic compounds. Veterinarian and author Bruce Fogle recommends heating food to just below body temperature, around 101°F, to enhance both taste and aroma. This is especially helpful for elderly dogs whose sense of smell has faded, or for any dog recovering from illness. A few seconds in the microwave does the job. Stir it well and test a spot with your finger to make sure there are no hot pockets.
Prescription Appetite Stimulants
When food tricks aren’t enough, your vet may prescribe a medication to stimulate hunger directly.
Capromorelin (Entyce)
This is the first and only FDA-approved appetite stimulant for dogs. It works by mimicking ghrelin, the hormone your dog’s body naturally produces to signal hunger. It binds to the same receptors ghrelin does, essentially telling the brain it’s time to eat. The standard dose is 3 mg per kilogram of body weight, given once daily as an oral liquid. In clinical trials on client-owned dogs, it reliably increased food intake compared to placebo. It’s commonly prescribed for dogs with chronic kidney disease, cancer, or other conditions that suppress appetite long-term.
Mirtazapine
Originally developed as an antidepressant for humans, mirtazapine has a well-known side effect: it stimulates appetite. Vets prescribe it off-label for dogs, typically at doses around 0.5 to 1 mg per kilogram given once daily, adjusted by weight. Dogs under about 15 pounds get a lower dose, while larger dogs may receive up to 30 mg daily. It tends to work quickly, often within a day, and is commonly used for short-term appetite support during illness or recovery.
Both medications require a prescription and monitoring. Your vet will choose between them based on your dog’s underlying condition and other medications they’re taking.
Supplements That May Help
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
Dogs with gastrointestinal diseases or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency often develop B12 deficiency, and one of the hallmark signs is appetite loss and chronic wasting. According to Texas A&M’s GI Lab, B12 may have a direct pharmacologic effect as an appetite stimulant beyond simply correcting a deficiency. Dogs that are anorexic and B12-deficient often start eating again once supplementation begins. Your vet can check B12 levels with a simple blood test.
Probiotics
If your dog’s appetite loss is tied to digestive upset, a canine-specific probiotic can help restore gut balance and reduce nausea, which indirectly makes food more appealing. Look for products with strains tested in dogs rather than human formulations.
A Note on CBD
CBD is sometimes marketed for appetite support in dogs, but the evidence is mixed at best. While some research lists appetite modulation as an area of interest, human clinical trials with CBD actually report loss of appetite as a common side effect. Studies in dogs have similarly noted decreased appetite and vomiting. It’s not a reliable appetite stimulant, and quality control across CBD pet products varies widely.
Feeding Strategies That Work
How you offer food matters as much as what you offer. A few adjustments to routine can make a real difference for a reluctant eater.
Try hand-feeding. It builds engagement and trust, especially for dogs who’ve become anxious around their bowl due to nausea or a bad food experience. Many trainers use hand-feeding as their primary method for younger or recovering dogs because it strengthens the bond between you and your dog while ensuring they actually eat. You can scatter the remaining food afterward so they can forage at their own pace.
Offer smaller, more frequent meals instead of one or two large ones. A dog with a queasy stomach is more likely to eat a quarter cup four times a day than a full cup twice. If your dog walks away from the bowl after a few minutes, pick it up. Leaving food out all day can create a habit of grazing and make mealtimes feel less important. Putting the bowl down for 15 to 20 minutes and then removing it teaches your dog that mealtime is a limited window, which often increases urgency to eat.
Switching between wet and dry food, or mixing the two, can also reignite interest. Dogs get bored with the same texture just like people do. If you’ve been feeding only kibble, even a spoonful of wet food stirred in can change the experience enough to get them eating again.