# Leo is itching & biting after going back on ProPlan



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

Anybody have any suggestions? Comments? I got some samples of some other foods, TOTW, Candiae ALS, Wellness, Merric, California's Natural, etc and might start from there... Though I wouldn't let him try ALL of them, maybe just chose one or two..


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

BTW, he doesn't seem to be interested in his ProPlan kibble.. Before he started having diarreha because of the cocci, he was eating about 1 1/4 cup of ProPlan a day, and he would scarf it up in seconds. Now he just sit there, picking at his food, also I've noticed that hes spitting some out as well..


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Chicken could be the problem, some dogs have trouble with it. Maybe try a different protein based food. What was the meat in the rx food?


----------



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

It sounds like he has an allergy to one or more ingredients in the ProPlan. My Ike was on ProPlan at the Breeder's so I continued feeding it at home. He was constantly itchy and developed ear infections that I would not heal. After antibiotics and revolving door vet visits, it was suggested that it could be food allergies. I switched him to a food without chicken, corn, or soy and he's been itch free and ear infection free. Ask your Vet about giving your little guy benadryl to help with the itching while you transition him to a different food. I switched to Merrick's Wilderness Blend with immediate results, no more itching. Ike's now on Blue buffalo's fish/sweet potato formula. He tends to get bored and stop eating his kibble from time to time. I also feed him The Honest Kitchen's Preference formula, but only as a treat, it's expensive.


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

It could be the chicken. Chicken and beef allergies are actually a lot more common than grain allergies. Have you tried Pro Plan's Sensitive Skin & Stomach formula? That's what we use and it has no chicken. It's a salmon & rice formula and our dogs really thrive on it. There's no corn, wheat, or soy in it either.


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

jwemt81 said:


> It could be the chicken. Chicken and beef allergies are actually a lot more common than grain allergies. Have you tried Pro Plan's Sensitive Skin & Stomach formula? That's what we use and it has no chicken. It's a salmon & rice formula and our dogs really thrive on it. There's no corn, wheat, or soy in it either.


It could be.. The ProPlan is the only thing we feed him that has chicken (all his treats are lamb, deer, salmon and beef). I'm afraid to try ProPlan sensitive skin because the results may be the same.. I know Petsmart lets you return opened dog food, so I might give it a try.. 

I was going to try a more "premium" dog food.. possibly grain-free, to see if that would help.


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

paula bedard said:


> It sounds like he has an allergy to one or more ingredients in the ProPlan. My Ike was on ProPlan at the Breeder's so I continued feeding it at home. He was constantly itchy and developed ear infections that I would not heal. After antibiotics and revolving door vet visits, it was suggested that it could be food allergies. I switched him to a food without chicken, corn, or soy and he's been itch free and ear infection free. Ask your Vet about giving your little guy benadryl to help with the itching while you transition him to a different food. I switched to Merrick's Wilderness Blend with immediate results, no more itching. Ike's now on Blue buffalo's fish/sweet potato formula. He tends to get bored and stop eating his kibble from time to time. I also feed him The Honest Kitchen's Preference formula, but only as a treat, it's expensive.


His ear seems to be fine, it doesn't smell too bad but he sometimes whimpers when he is scratching his ear. 

btw, what food are you feeding him now?


----------



## canine_mommy (Dec 27, 2010)

Pro plan is a good food, but Austin had issues with it too. Itching, soft stools. I switched him to no grain food, Wellness Large Breed puppy and it helped. He doesn't seem to be allergic to the chicken in the kibble. But I did feed him boiled chicken last week, and he broke out into rashes... You might consider switching to a premium food like you noted, maybe Wellness, Fromm...


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

canine_mommy said:


> Pro plan is a good food, but Austin had issues with it too. Itching, soft stools. I switched him to no grain food, Wellness Large Breed puppy and it helped. He doesn't seem to be allergic to the chicken in the kibble. But I did feed him boiled chicken last week, and he broke out into rashes... You might consider switching to a premium food like you noted, maybe Wellness, Fromm...


My friend feeds her lab wellness and she seems to like it, however she mentioned that her stool smells and that its huge.

I might give Wellness Core a try.


----------



## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

I switched my dogs to BB Lamb and Brown Rice this spring and they are doing great on it, even got Chloe though a summer without Hotspots.


----------



## canine_mommy (Dec 27, 2010)

leonidas7 said:


> My friend feeds her lab wellness and she seems to like it, however she mentioned that her stool smells and that its huge.
> 
> I might give Wellness Core a try.


Wellness Core was my first choice but the Crude Protein is 34% and the breeder told me that is too high for a pup, ideal should be 24-26%. Maybe someone else can comment...


----------



## Tuckers Mom (Nov 12, 2010)

After many many and I mean MANY tries of food, from the very expensive grain free and what not foods, I could not get Tucker's stool more solid, I finally switched him to Lamaderm from Natural Life and never looked back. Totally normal poops from the very first feeding, and no itchies or stink ears. He loves it. it's a limited ingredient diet, lamb, brown rice and just a few other things, not really sure but he's done great on it. I've learned that Lamb is one of the best tolerated proteins by dogs with food sensitivity. It's QUALITY FOOD, and you can get it at Walmart. ( really). read the reviews on it, there are alot of GREAT reviews for it. Good Luck.


----------



## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

We tried the ProPlan sensitive skin & stomach formula, and it was an absolute disaster! It was fine for the first two weeks, then all of a sudden he started scratching and biting like crazy and his ears were bothering him.
I don't know what the problem was. He doesn't have a problem with Salmon and he doesn't seem to have a problem with corn or other grains, so I have no idea. But _something_ in that food did not agree with him.
Within a few days of taking him off that food, the itching stopped.


----------



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

leonidas7 said:


> His ear seems to be fine, it doesn't smell too bad but he sometimes whimpers when he is scratching his ear.
> 
> btw, what food are you feeding him now?


Ike's on Blue Buffalo fish/sweet potato kibble now. He literally runs to his bowl, excited to eat. He was as excited about the Merrick's Wilderness Blend when he first switched to it also. About every 10 months it seems he gets bored with his food and stops cleaning his bowl. I've switched back and forth between Merrick's WB, EVO Red Meat, The Honest Kitchen, and now Blue Buffalo. Ike has a cast iron stomach, he can switch kibbles without upset tummy or loose stools.

Ike's ear infections were caused by the head shaking and ear scratching from the itching caused by the food allergies, not necessarily from the food directly.

I've found that there are trace amounts of chicken in many dog foods that are supposedly chicken free. You have to read all the way thru the ingredient list.


----------



## Tuckers Mom (Nov 12, 2010)

Don't forget that Corn, Soy and Wheat are huge allergy triggers as well, that are known to cause hot spots.... Tucker has not had a hot spot this year..... Thankfully!


----------



## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

Mine was having the same problem on a chicken based food. I thought it was the grains, but it ended up being a chicken allergy. I switched him to ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and haven't had an issue with soft poop or itchiness since. Very impressed.


----------



## daisysmam (Sep 5, 2010)

I think your best bet may be to find a limited ingredient kibble with a different protein source and go from there. If you try a lamb and rice one and hes still itching and having soft stools then try grain free. He could very well be having problems with more than one ingredient. I know chicken is a common problem, so I'd definetly start there first. Good luck. It's trial and error to find what works.


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

Thank you everyone for your advise/ comments. I will make a trip to mudbay first and see what they have to offer, and if not might end up at petsmart.. But I'm sure I'll be able to find something at mudbay.. They have a lot of quality stuff, I'm almost hesitant on trying Fromm, been doing a lot of reading on kibble and Froomm seems to get the most "praise".


----------



## MGMF (May 13, 2009)

I love Canidae ALS Grain Free


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

MGMF said:


> I love Canidae ALS Grain Free


We had pretty good results with TOTW Pacific stream, but the vet wanted us to switch him back to a LBP or Puppy specific food... We are about half way into the transition to wellness puppy super5mix but he is starting to itch again and his stool is starting to get mushy...

Going to try innova puppy next to see how that works... If that fails, I wil try California Naturals, Lamb formula to rule out the chicken...


----------



## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

We have been using TOTW Sierra Mt (Lamb) and itching is gone, but stools are still not as firm as I would like. Vet said to keep him on it for at least a few months then switch if the stools do not firm up.


----------



## leonidas7 (Sep 20, 2011)

Deber said:


> We have been using TOTW Sierra Mt (Lamb) and itching is gone, but stools are still not as firm as I would like. Vet said to keep him on it for at least a few months then switch if the stools do not firm up.


How old is your pup? The reason why we are trying to switch back to a puppy food over the TOTW (which leo was doing great on) is because the vet wants us to put him on a LBP formula.. 

We started the switch to innova LBP and his stool is soft, I guess we gotta see in a week or so if its going to work or not.. :doh:


----------

