# Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice Puppy Food May Have Caused My Dog To Have Diarrhea



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Some puppies have a dairy intolerance. 

I see above you were giving the pup all kinds of junk....! That usually cheese products, but even milk! I mean why the heck would anyone be giving a puppy milk???

Ideally - you should not be rocking the boat by adding ANYTHING to diet until a pup is at least 3-4 months old and out of the danger zone.

When a pup develops colitis - it can be a very long road to fixing that, and sometimes there is scarring which causes perpetual dietary issues. 

When you bring a puppy home.

Feed the same kibble that the breeder sent home with you. Give it 1-2 months before transitioning to anything else. 

Personally speaking - I feed pups Pro Plan Focus Chicken and Rice (regular, not large breed). And I keep them on that food until they are about 5-6 months. Whenever their adult teeth come in, they can start to be transitioned to adult food. I feed a different brand to the adults, but for puppies - I love the PP Focus Chicken and Rice. It's bland but has a good smell to it. It doesn't smell like chemicals. 

I also feed small meals 3-4 times a day vs 2 big meals. I think that helps aid digestion as well. 

To this day, the last 4 pups that I raised did not have any issues at all. 3 of those 4 were fed PP puppy food. And all 4 were raised using the same caution I mentioned above. Whatever the breeder feeds the pups, keep on that until the pups are big enough to handle food changes without any problems.... and or if they have problems, at least it won't be as BAD as a sick puppy.

Other thing that causes diarrhea in a puppy is coccidia - which can be brought on by stress. Transitioning to a new home is a huge change in a pup's life. And especially if new owners are really pushy and in a hurry to get the pups crate trained and switched to a cheaper food or whatever.... it brings on major issue. With a young enough pup and no treatment, coccidia can cause very serious illness for them. It can appear like parvo with a pup failing to thrive. So it's really important to be cautious and careful when you bring a new pup home.


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## Jason Deng (Feb 5, 2020)

Hello Megora, 

Thank you for your response. 

When we were selecting puppy food and supplements, we were fairly careful. Initially we didn't feed Dough fresh cow milk, but rather goat milk powder. We did some research and made a conclusion that puppy can candle the goat milk very well, even for those puppy who has lactose intolerance, in fact, Dough digested the goat milk powder very good as well. We didn't continue to feed her the goat milk powder because the price of it was high for us and we'd prefer to feed her something more affordable. Luckily, or we thought we were being lucky, that when we switched to fresh cow milk mixed with her kibble, Dough also digested them very well until her got her last set of vaccines, and we stopped give her anything else except her kibbles. In addition, we confirmed our diet with our vet and who said she's okay with the diet as long as Dough can handle. We are very serious about raising Dough to the best of our ability and knowledge, and doing something bad to her is the very last thing we want. 

Having said that, we may have made some mistakes by providing her too many kinds of food at such a young age, to which we have learned the lessons. Today we decided to write this post not because we want to be picky on one particular brand, frankly speaking, we believe everyone can and should make the best decisions for their dogs, but to bring the awareness of the Pro Plan that we have experienced with our own dog. We have learned so much from this forum from numerous topics and persons, and we'd also like to make our own contributions at this forum as well. 

In future, we would keep raising Dough in the best way as we can, and we hope every golden retriever can live and happy and healthy life.


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## Dunmar (Apr 15, 2020)

Cheese, cows milk and switching food too quickly causes diarrhea in most puppies


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Puppies don't need milk or any supplemental products.

And sounds like the milk wasn't even pasteurized.... !

Stuff like that will MAKE a puppy sick.

Just feed the kibble!


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## Jason Deng (Feb 5, 2020)

Dunmar said:


> Cheese, cows milk and switching food too quickly causes diarrhea in most puppies


Hello Dunmar,

Thank you for your response. We'd stick to her current bland diet for a while and then only feed her kibbles.


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## Jason Deng (Feb 5, 2020)

Megora said:


> Puppies don't need milk or any supplemental products.
> 
> And sounds like the milk wasn't even pasteurized.... !
> 
> ...


Hello Megora, 

That's true. We'll stick with the kibble thereafter.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Every dog is different. My puppy has always eaten Pro Plan, and has never had any diarrhea. I would make the guess that adding all the different foods caused the diarrhea, and your puppy's GI system is still recovering. I would keep her on chicken and rice longer and slowly add back just kibble, no other human foods.


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

Our newest puppy is now 29 weeks, today! We brought him home at 8 wks. and the breeder had given him is shots, the morning we picked him up. So we knew that he would have a good chance of some diarrhea. The breeder had fed the pups Purina Puppy Chow, Large Dogs PPP, so we had a bag of that at home, and carried a bit of that kibble, to offer him. We also got a gallon of the water from the breeders house, so that a change in water can trigger diarrhea in pups. We have learned with many puppies before to keep the food, water, exactly the same for a few weeks. These puppies go through so much being taken away from their mom's, puppy mates, water, food, outside, etc. It can and does upset their systems, so eliminate everything you can that will help with the transition. 

I agree with Megora above!

We took our pup to the vet for a check up on the second day we had him. He checked out good, the vet was sure the shot gave him the runs...so he said! No food for 24 hours only water from the breeder. Then start him back on little bits of cooked chicken with maybe a little rice. Or he said we could get a similar light food in a can from him or the Petco shops. We decided to go with the canned food. After 24 hours his poop firmed up so we fed him a small amount of canned food, he loved it, and he took more water. That night we gave him another half can and more fresh water. He poop was firm. All went well, we increased his food to a full can twice a day. After another week of good firm poop, we started adding back into his meals a few pieces of his puppy kibble. over the new two weeks he worked his way back on to PPP for all meals. Two weeks ago, after all his permanent teeth are in, we switched him over to Purina Pro Plan for large dogs. And he is doing great.....Good luck


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## Jason Deng (Feb 5, 2020)

mylissyk said:


> Every dog is different. My puppy has always eaten Pro Plan, and has never had any diarrhea. I would make the guess that adding all the different foods caused the diarrhea, and your puppy's GI system is still recovering. I would keep her on chicken and rice longer and slowly add back just kibble, no other human foods.


Hello Mylissyk, 

Thank you for the response. 

I think you are right that feeding Dough too many different foods may be the cause of her diarrhea and not the Pro Plan itself. I already got her a different brand of dry food today and would give the new kibble a chance, but like you said, I'd keep her on the white rice and chicken diet a few more days, and be very careful transitioning her diet back to the kibble this time.


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## Jason Deng (Feb 5, 2020)

3goldens2keep said:


> Our newest puppy is now 29 weeks, today! We brought him home at 8 wks. and the breeder had given him is shots, the morning we picked him up. So we knew that he would have a good chance of some diarrhea. The breeder had fed the pups Purina Puppy Chow, Large Dogs PPP, so we had a bag of that at home, and carried a bit of that kibble, to offer him. We also got a gallon of the water from the breeders house, so that a change in water can trigger diarrhea in pups. We have learned with many puppies before to keep the food, water, exactly the same for a few weeks. These puppies go through so much being taken away from their mom's, puppy mates, water, food, outside, etc. It can and does upset their systems, so eliminate everything you can that will help with the transition.
> 
> I agree with Megora above!
> 
> We took our pup to the vet for a check up on the second day we had him. He checked out good, the vet was sure the shot gave him the runs...so he said! No food for 24 hours only water from the breeder. Then start him back on little bits of cooked chicken with maybe a little rice. Or he said we could get a similar light food in a can from him or the Petco shops. We decided to go with the canned food. After 24 hours his poop firmed up so we fed him a small amount of canned food, he loved it, and he took more water. That night we gave him another half can and more fresh water. He poop was firm. All went well, we increased his food to a full can twice a day. After another week of good firm poop, we started adding back into his meals a few pieces of his puppy kibble. over the new two weeks he worked his way back on to PPP for all meals. Two weeks ago, after all his permanent teeth are in, we switched him over to Purina Pro Plan for large dogs. And he is doing great.....Good luck


Hello 3goldens2Keep,

Thank you for your response. 

I am happy that your pup is a healthy golden, and quite frankly nothing else would make me happier other than knowing that there there is another healthy and beautiful golden retriever live with someone in this world. 

Like one other response above this thread, I already got a another brand of dry food for Dough, nothing to say I have an issue with the Pro Plan, but just in case that Dough's stomach can't agree with this particular brand for now, and we have something else to offer her as her main diet. 

This time my family and I will be very careful selecting the food that we're going to feed her, and we are going to take it slow to transition her food from the current bland diet to all kibbles. Although Dough can handle the rice and chicken diet pretty well, we worry that if we keep feeding her this diet, she may have consumed too much grains, which may lead to other health issues. 

Good luck to your goldens as well.


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## RavenRylee (Apr 10, 2021)

Jason Deng said:


> Hello,
> 
> I want to share some information regarding the Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice ("Pro Plan") puppy food with this forum.
> 
> ...


I stumbled across this forum as my two labradoodles have eaten Purina Pro Plan ever since we took them home, which would be about 2.5 months now. All of sudden they are having diarrhea and spurts of constipation. Just like your pups they just go their 2nd dose of vaccines include rabies. I was wondering what you found to work to fix the issue? Any feedback would be helpful.


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## B K (Apr 17, 2021)

Jason Deng said:


> Hello,
> 
> I want to share some information regarding the Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice ("Pro Plan") puppy food with this forum.
> 
> ...


I have the same exact issue with my 6 months old Pup. Very frustrating! I'm switching him off the Purina Pro Plan and to Costco limited ingredient adult dog food (Salmon & rice). My other two dogs have been eating Costco food for the last 8 years and have no issues. What I'm afraid of is switching my 8 months old puppy to adult food might be too early.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Purina and others offer several options, chicken, salmon, beef, etc. in the same line of food. The reason, in part, is food allergies in individual dogs. If one formula disagrees with your dog there are other choices.


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## puckstopper337 (Jul 12, 2021)

Does anyone have a food they switched to that made things better our 7 month old golden is healthy in every aspect but her diarrhea. We too fed her purina pro plan chicken and rice she started having diarrhea around last vaccines 6 months which is very strange bland diet chicken and rice no other food or treats resolves diarrhea but then vet says to transition back after 10 days. She is also on probiotics, antibiotics, and a broad spectrum dewormer a few weeks ago we transitioned to the pro plan salmon and rice for upset stomachs still diarrhea. Multiple vet visits I’m thinking it has to be the pro plan at this point. She has been bland for 9 days normal bowl movement within 2 days of switching. Started yesterday to transition with rice and chicken and pro plan mix and diarrhea back today please help if you have found a fix I’m not knocking the brand I just wast my pup better. 
thanks Eric


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## mimisusie (9 mo ago)

Jason Deng said:


> Hello,
> 
> I want to share some information regarding the Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice ("Pro Plan") puppy food with this forum.
> 
> ...


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## bsc095 (Jan 2, 2022)

When I got my puppy, I had her on purina pro plan chicken large breed puppy. She was fine for the first month then at around 4 months started having diarrhea. Her fecal tests were negative and would clear up with chicken and rice but every time I switched her back, the diarreah would come back. We treid treating her for parasites in case of a false negative, but that still didn't help. I switched her to purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach salmon (puppy formula) and she has been normal ever sense. I also give her forti-flora every day.


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