# Soft stool with Purina Pro Plan



## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

Hi,

Simba has been on PPP LBP since October 9th. He fully transitioned from his old food to this one on that day over a period of 7 days. Since his switch, he has been having varying degrees of soft stool. The first week, all his stool was soft. Now, his first morning stool is the only one that is 100% normal (such as brown, log like, and small). His two others are about 90-95% normal but about 5-10% soft. He eats three cups in total 3 times a day. Usually he goes potty three times a day as well but sometimes when he's had a play date with other dogs or played at home more than normal, he'll go potty four times and his last stool is always 100% soft. 

Some background: Simba was on Hill's Prescription Urinary Diet (adult) food due to crystals in his urine. But I was always suspicious of the diagnosis because the clinic wasn't good but it was the only one with any appointments available near me at the time. So I got a second opinion from a clinic that was recommended to me by several dog parents. After a month, he was cleared to finally eat normal puppy food again. Hill's food had a lower protein level (18%) compared to PPP which is 28%. At first I put the soft stools to the different protein levels. After a month of eating mostly low protein food, maybe his body needed time to adjust to high protein levels. But his stool is still a bit soft and that can't be good for his digestion.

I also had a intestinal parasite screening done just in case, and I just got the ok report today. I was given the recommendation to change his food if his stool is still soft, which it is. 

I've heard a ton of great things about PPP on this site and how a lot of goldens have thrived on it. Simba also seems to love his food and eats all of it down to the last kibble which he's never done before with his old food. So I'm just looking for some recommendations as to whether I should change his food. If so, what brand? There are so many brands out there I can't decide. I've heard good things about the Fromm LBP line but I've also heard about arsenic in Fromm's food. This is what I get with all food brands, no matter if it's Royal Cannin, Eukanaba, or other food brands. Some good with some bad. How is a person supposed to decide? I do want to feed him a good quality food. Any help is appreciated.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Bumping up


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Just spoke with someone that has a litter mate to my Lily (he is also the breeder). PPP LBP did not agree with his pup and the PPP 30/20 chicken formula they feed didn't either. They switched the pup (7 months) and one other dog to PPP salmon formula and they are doing well. The down side is it costs a little more.

A very good friend who was with Purina for many years, and still sort of is, told me that the reason for so many different formulas isn't just marketing, it is to provide options for dogs with allergies to certain protein sources.


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## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

SRW said:


> Just spoke with someone that has a litter mate to my Lily (he is also the breeder). PPP LBP did not agree with his pup and the PPP 30/20 chicken formula they feed didn't either. They switched the pup (7 months) and one other dog to PPP salmon formula and they are doing well. The down side is it costs a little more.
> 
> A very good friend who was with Purina for many years, and still sort of is, told me that the reason for so many different formulas isn't just marketing, it is to provide options for dogs with allergies to certain protein sources.


Wow I didn’t know the sensitive skin and stomach line had a LBP version as well! This is great! Because he does have skin irritation as well on his elbows which he scratches a lot. Not been confirmed if that’s an allergy to chicken since that’s the main protein source in his previous and current food. I’ll check with the vet today and hopefully this will be good for Simba. Thank you.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

simbathegoldenbaby said:


> Wow I didn’t know the sensitive skin and stomach line had a LBP version as well! This is great! Because he does have skin irritation as well on his elbows which he scratches a lot. Not been confirmed if that’s an allergy to chicken since that’s the main protein source in his previous and current food. I’ll check with the vet today and hopefully this will be good for Simba. Thank you.


If you do switch, do a slower switch than just seven days. Try it over a month - a 3:1 ratio mix for the first week (3/4 old foor plus 1/4 new food), a 50-50 mix ratio for the next two weeks and a 3:1 mix (3/4 new food to 1/4 old food) for the last week. Some dogs' systems are just more sensitive.

(FWIW, my dog thrived on the PPP chicken and rice, but she thrives to an even greater extent on the PPP salmon formula. I switched her because I wanted the extra omegas. Every dog is different, but just letting you know the salmon is a really good food).


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## Dunmar (Apr 15, 2020)

How old is your pup? My girl was on Blue Buffalo puppy and thrived on it until about 8 months when her stools got soft and continued to get softer and more frequent. A couple breeders here advised me to remove her from puppy food altogether. We switched to Large breed PPP and she now poops one solid stool a day.

We did switch over a month but the puppy food was just getting to be too much for her


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## kikis_retrieving_service (Mar 29, 2021)

As long as you feed a high quality food, the specific brand itself may be dog dependent. Our puppy did very well the first 2.5 months we had her on PPP LB chicken for puppies. After months of diarrhea and suspecting a chicken allergy we switched her to the PPP salmon formula because I so badly wanted to keep her on PPP with all the great reviews we had heard. She did get better but still had periodic diarrhea and always had soft stool, and was not gaining weight. Our vet recommended changing brands altogether so we moved her to Taste of the Wild Ancient Grains All Stages food. I don't know if it was simply that she had a chicken allergy and needed more time for her gut to settle, or that the puppy formula was too rich (or both!?) but she is thriving on her new food. Her fur is better than I've ever seen it before, great stool and finally gaining weight well (she was very underweight before).


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## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

Sweet Girl said:


> If you do switch, do a slower switch than just seven days. Try it over a month - a 3:1 ratio mix for the first week (3/4 old foor plus 1/4 new food), a 50-50 mix ratio for the next two weeks and a 3:1 mix (3/4 new food to 1/4 old food) for the last week. Some dogs' systems are just more sensitive.
> 
> (FWIW, my dog thrived on the PPP chicken and rice, but she thrives to an even greater extent on the PPP salmon formula. I switched her because I wanted the extra omegas. Every dog is different, but just letting you know the salmon is a really good food).


I'm going to take it really slow this time until the current PPP runs out at least. I think I have about two weeks worth of kibble still left, hopefully that'll settle his stomach. If I knew the SSS formula had a large breed puppy version I would've gotten it sooner because I've heard so many great things about it. Simba also seems to love the salmon flavor considering how he pants after the freeze dried salmon treats I give him. So hopefully he does well all around.


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## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

Dunmar said:


> How old is your pup? My girl was on Blue Buffalo puppy and thrived on it until about 8 months when her stools got soft and continued to get softer and more frequent. A couple breeders here advised me to remove her from puppy food altogether. We switched to Large breed PPP and she now poops one solid stool a day.
> 
> We did switch over a month but the puppy food was just getting to be too much for her


Simba is five months old (5.5 specifically). He still eats three times a day so he still poops three times a day as well. I'm going to transition him to twice a day feedings once he's six months. 

Your pup only goes once a day! That's so awesome. Not much poop to clean up must be a boon.


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## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

kikis_retrieving_service said:


> As long as you feed a high quality food, the specific brand itself may be dog dependent. Our puppy did very well the first 2.5 months we had her on PPP LB chicken for puppies. After months of diarrhea and suspecting a chicken allergy we switched her to the PPP salmon formula because I so badly wanted to keep her on PPP with all the great reviews we had heard. She did get better but still had periodic diarrhea and always had soft stool, and was not gaining weight. Our vet recommended changing brands altogether so we moved her to Taste of the Wild Ancient Grains All Stages food. I don't know if it was simply that she had a chicken allergy and needed more time for her gut to settle, or that the puppy formula was too rich (or both!?) but she is thriving on her new food. Her fur is better than I've ever seen it before, great stool and finally gaining weight well (she was very underweight before).


Yes, I agree. As long as it's a high quality food and your pup does well on it, that's all that really matters. The thing is, Simba was pooping fine on the urinary care diet which is also chicken based so I don't think he has a chicken allergy. The food may be too rich for him as well. I'm going to try the sensitive skin and stomach formula and see how he does. 

Simba lost a ton of weight around 3.5 months too on his old food. He was on Diamond Natural all life stages puppy food when I first brought him from the breeder and he didn't seem to like it and wouldn't eat enough despite me adding all sorts of toppings, warm water, to entice him. He's finally eating like a normal puppy on PPP that's why I want to keep him with the same brand.


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## LA152 (Dec 31, 2020)

PPP SSS has been good for my puppy. I got him from Switzerland and wasn’t allowed to bring kibble from his breeder (she had the puppies on RC puppy) on the plane so I had to switch him directly to a new food. I didn’t go with RC puppy because the formulation would be different here anymore, and my sister’s dogs are all on PPP SSS. Luckily he didn’t have a sensitive stomach and only had semi soft stools at first never bad diarrhea.


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## simbathegoldenbaby (Jul 24, 2021)

I started the transition to SSS last night with the vet’s approval and Simba can’t seem to get enough of it. Even today, as soon as I opened the bag of SSS to portion it out, he would get up and run to his food bowl to wait for me to give him his food. He’s NEVER done that before. Admittedly, the food stinks, but Simba can’t get enough. Looks like it’s a success so far but I’ll see how his stomach handles it from here on.


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