# Sudden bad reaction to Purina Pro



## ewokzzz (Aug 31, 2020)

Hi!
Zephee is not quite 6 months old. She's been eating purina pro large breed for puppies, chicken and rice, for her entire life so far with no issues until recently.
She suddenly started having loose stools, diarrhea and vomiting that lasted more than a few days. I began feeding her boiled chicken/rice/pumpkin to calm her tummy. Once I begin to slowly mix kibble back into her diet, the indigestion starts again. I took her to the vet (out of an abundance of caution), who said she is perfectly healthy, and he suggested I switch foods if I continue to notice that the PPP leads to issues.

I guess I am curious why this would begin happening so suddenly after months of no issues, and if anybody else has had this problem? And, at this age, is it appropriate to begin transitioning her into adult food anyway? I was considering the PPP sensitive stomach lamb & oat recipe, or perhaps the "under one year" lamb &rice formula. Or, is it a better bet to switch brands altogether?

Thanks!


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

That's a pretty serious reaction. FWIW, others have reported similar issues with the minor formula changes, but if you've only been feeding the new or old bags, I wouldn't think its related to that, but perhaps a bag that has gone bad or rancid.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I’d have all the information off the bag and call Purina. I have fed PPP for years. During Covid I had to order some from Amazon because of supply issues. My dogs would not eat the food. I don’t believe it had been stored properly. Purina sent me a new bag and I had no more issues.


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## ewokzzz (Aug 31, 2020)

Tagrenine said:


> That's a pretty serious reaction. FWIW, others have reported similar issues with the minor formula changes, but if you've only been feeding the new or old bags, I wouldn't think its related to that, but perhaps a bag that has gone bad or rancid.


To be fair, I think the vomiting was just her regurgitating grass and sticks she ate because she wasn't feeling well, and not a _direct_ result of the food. It usually happened early in the morning before breakfast. So, because she vomited after so much time had passed since eating, I was concerned about a potential blockage, hence the vet visit.
I did consider that the bag has gone bad - I ordered the largest size bag and it's taking a long time to go through it- it's probably been opened for about 5-6 weeks. 



DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I’d have all the information off the bag and call Purina. I have fed PPP for years. During Covid I had to order some from Amazon because of supply issues. My dogs would not eat the food. I don’t believe it had been stored properly. Purina sent me a new bag and I had no more issues.


She has been eating from this same bag with no issues up until recently, so I am not sure it's a quality control issue, although this is a possibility. The "best by" date on this bag is June 2022. And, Zephee will happily eat the kibble if I feed it to her.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

How is your bag of food being stored? Most manufacturers recommend leaving the food in the bag and then keep it closed or in an airtight container. That said, I don't keep mine in the bag and don't have issues. Dry food is supposed to be consumed within 6 weeks, but I think Purina mentions somewhere that theirs will last 3-6 months. 

I would just reach out to Purina and let them know.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

My oldest guy eats the PPP SSS Lamb & Oat and has no issues. My other two are on the PPP Sport 30/20 and they eat the lamb & oat if they can get a dropped piece. 
No matter what I would notify Purina of the issue. Switching foods and digestive issues are tough. Hope you find an answer and your pup feels better soon.


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## ewokzzz (Aug 31, 2020)

Tagrenine said:


> How is your bag of food being stored? Most manufacturers recommend leaving the food in the bag and then keep it closed or in an airtight container. That said, I don't keep mine in the bag and don't have issues. Dry food is supposed to be consumed within 6 weeks, but I think Purina mentions somewhere that theirs will last 3-6 months.
> 
> I would just reach out to Purina and let them know.


I store the food inside the bag, which is stored inside an iris container. I did notice the other day that the iris container isn't airtight though - I must have dropped the big bag in a bit aggressively or haphazardly when I first placed it in, as the bottom of the iris container is cracked. I know that the exposure to air could cause the food to go bad quicker, although it still seems like that would be a remarkably fast deterioration if that is the case.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

I agree. It may be the case that the bag had been improperly stored before getting to you and that may have substantially decreased its shelf life.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

After reading this thread I have my doubts it's the food that suddenly and magically made her ill. 5 month old puppies will eat anything that's not nailed to the ceiling. Treat as needed and change to adult food if you feel that it's time. Also, how much are you feeding? Diarrhea in puppies is often caused by simply feeding too much.


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## ewokzzz (Aug 31, 2020)

K9-Design said:


> After reading this thread I have my doubts it's the food that suddenly and magically made her ill. 5 month old puppies will eat anything that's not nailed to the ceiling. Treat as needed and change to adult food if you feel that it's time. Also, how much are you feeding? Diarrhea in puppies is often caused by simply feeding too much.


This was my initial thought, but it went on for a few days longer than it should have. The vet suggested the same thing, that she probably just snuck something when I wasn't looking, but he also specifically mentioned that I should consider switching foods if she gets sick again once I reintroduce the purina. And that is exactly what happened as soon as I mixed a bit of kibble in with the rice. So, it is very curious.

She was eating 1-1.25 cups, twice a day.


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## Howler (Feb 4, 2021)

Purina achieves a nutritional rating of 48%. There are many alternative brands achieving above 90%.









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## Caiti9 (Apr 23, 2021)

I believe when Purina changed their packaging some months back, they changed their formula or source of food!!! Just based on the fact that ours started not eating and having some diarrhea every day. Many vet visits and calls later, we have switched to Merrick grain free and she’s doing amazing. Hang in there!


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Caiti9 said:


> I believe when Purina changed their packaging some months back, they changed their formula or source of food!!! Just based on the fact that ours started not eating and having some diarrhea every day. Many vet visits and calls later, we have switched to Merrick grain free and she’s doing amazing. Hang in there!


Merrick is owned by Purina. I have a boy with allergies and used the Merrick salmon/sweet potato grain free for a little while before all the studies came out about grain free. He's now on the Purina SSS Lamb & Oat.

I should add that after lots of studies and tests his allergy is chicken, not grain. The problem is lots of dog foods are cross contaminated by chicken.


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## Caiti9 (Apr 23, 2021)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> Merrick is owned by Purina. I have a boy with allergies and used the Merrick salmon/sweet potato grain free for a little while before all the studies came out about grain free. L


That’s strange- I’ve never heard a bad thing about grain free and it was recommended by a couple vets!


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

She’s 5 months old, diarrhea is very common in puppies. It’s likely that she could have picked of giardia or coccidia somewhere, either by picking something up in her mouth and ingesting it or stepping in it with her feet and then licking them clean, ingesting in that way. I’d guess that her gut needs time to heal after being inflamed from the diarrhea and vomiting and mixing the kibble back in too soon, this has happened to my dogs before.

Did you have a fecal sample run at the vet to rule out any parasites? Generally when my dogs seemingly get diarrhea out of nowhere I run a fecal sample to the vet and immediately, feed ground beef and white rice until they have a normal poop. Sometimes this can take DAYS. Once they finally have a normal solid poop I slowly wean them back onto the kibble. If the vet prescribes meds this is in conjunction with those meds. When my girl was 7ish months old we went through this. Vet prescribed metro, the fecal was clear, I also dewormed her with fenbendazole and did the bland food diet until she was having normal poops. We feed PPP performance chicken and their poops have never been better.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Caiti9 said:


> That’s strange- I’ve never heard a bad thing about grain free and it was recommended by a couple vets!


https://ccah.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sit...l_resources/pdfs/ucd-diet-and-dcm-handout.pdf


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

I don’t feed Pro Plan anymore, but for what it’s worth, Eevee did better on Pro Plan Sport 30/20 (all life stages) as a puppy than she did on Pro Plan large breed puppy.


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## MintChip (Feb 26, 2021)

I am about to switch from BB to PPP very soon. I have read somewhere the sodium content is high edit in BB (my boy drinks alot (ever since he was a puppy-so It's made me concerned -among other things about BB. Breeder started on BB so just never stopped). But Looks like the PPP new formula (adult large breed). has Soybean Oil? I feel like I've read that this is not healthy? Am I incorrect?


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

It’s not that soybean oil is unhealthy, it’s more that a small percentage of dogs have sensitivities to soybeans. I also don’t think Goldens need the “large breed” formula as adults, but that’s just my opinion. There are many PPP formulas to choose from and most Golden people I know feed one of the performance formulas or one of the SSS formulas.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Caiti9 said:


> That’s strange- I’ve never heard a bad thing about grain free and it was recommended by a couple vets!


So that says either these rec's were long ago, like more than 5 years ago, or your couple of vets were not up to date on the research. Dogs aren't humans, and they don't see the sales pitches we succumb to... the current info says avoid grain free foods until the studies are conclusive.


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## MintChip (Feb 26, 2021)

ArkansasGold said:


> It’s not that soybean oil is unhealthy, it’s more that a small percentage of dogs have sensitivities to soybeans. I also don’t think Goldens need the “large breed” formula as adults, but that’s just my opinion. There are many PPP formulas to choose from and most Golden people I know feed one of the performance formulas or one of the SSS formulas.


Wonderful! Thanks. I'll try out those formulas!


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