bradley sheehan

Thanks everyone for comments. Especially Clyde and Miss Danni for clarifying my message their advice. I was told that the bag had changed but it was still the same product. I just want to reiterate that I am not bagging Pro Plan, just sharing my experience in case anyone else has had a similar experience but had not yet worked out what was going on with their dog. She was very happy on it for 3 years so it is not my intention to rubbish the brand. It is hard to know which brand to stabilise her on. The Prescription Diet she is on by Hills seems to be working well but I am only gradually easing her into it whilst she is on chicken and rice still. My preference would be not continue on science diet for the long term and to find a diet that she both likes and is digestively happy on. I have been warned against so many and everyone seems to have a favourite and a least favourite so I guess it is just a trial and error program I need to go through now. May be best for me to go back to the breeder and ask what her brother and sisters are on:) Thanks again all. Brad

I have just signed up to this today to give a gentle warning to the dog community on here. My aim is not to be inflammatory but I wanted to share the experience I have just had with what I understood to be a premium dry dog food. I went off to Europe at the end of April for a months holiday. A good friend of mine looked after my 4 year old ridgeback while I was away. The day I went away I gave the carer a new bag of chicken pro plan. The bag was a new design of bag that was plastic and resealable, but I was assured that it was the same food, just new packaging. The day after I went, unbeknownst to me until I returned a month later (as her carer did not want to distress me), Zahra (the dog not the carer) started to have diarrhoea which lasted on and off until I returned. Throughout the month she was given cooked chicken and rice to alleviate the diarrhoea and then once settled back onto pro plan where the diarrhoea cycle began again. My vet believed it may have been stress related due to my absence, which is quite a plausible thought, however she had been dog sat by this friend of mine on many occasions before, for a week or 2 at a time. When I returned the diarrhoea continued so I changed diet slowly to pro plan salmon for sensitive tummy's and skin. The problem got worse. Chicken and rice again, back to pro plan, diarrhoea, chicken and rice again, then the vet, etc. Then hair began falling out of her in small patches - initially thought to be unrelated, however we seem to have just worked it all out in the last couple of days. I have just yesterday eliminated the salmon and her digestion has returned to normal (completely normal) on chicken and rice which is to be expected I guess. I have decided after consultation to return to science diet which she was raised on until she was 18 months of age, when I was talked into going onto a "better diet" of pro plan. After today on science diet + chicken and rice - seems perfect. I want to stress that I am not aiming to complain or bad mouth pro plan, however this reaction (very severe diarrhoea at times almost uncontrollable/explosive) is so unusual for my ridgeback who is a very well adjusted dog and had a stomach of steel up until I went on holiday and started a new bag of pro plan. She has had pro plan chicken since she was 18 months of age and no problems before. However, this recent experience, what has now lasted for 3 months, has convinced me and my vet that her diet has changed (without me knowing) and it would seem that a pro plan formulation change has resulted in this reaction, which has not been able to be diagnosed as anything else - infection, colitis, etc. I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who may have had a similar experience. I have found this to be a very disappointing experience as my philosophy with Zahra since she was 8 weeks old was/is to feed her the very best I can buy and I feel I have let her health down. Thanks for letting me share.