bradley sheehan Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Different foods suit different dogs. One of my dogs had a reaction to one food and now we feed Pro Plan with no issues in either of my dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Sorry you had that experience. The Pro Plan reps I've spoken to were quite open about the fact the formula was changing. It is now being made in Australia and some of the ingredients in the original formula were not as easy to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggD Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thanks for posting that Bradley. I feed 2 Danes on Proplan Large Breed and I think it's OK but sometimes I find some runny droppings. Have tried adjusting the vegetables that they have and that seems to work.I don't think the bag has changed but I'll be on the lookout now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 No problems here, I'm very happy with the palatability and the results and now it's Australian made (where we live ) it's even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atua Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I agree with the statement mentioned above different foods work for different dogs. Pro Plan did not work for my Amstaff she ended up losing all her coat and coming up in sores on ProPlan Puppy. I have tried numerous different dry foods with her and also found that Supercoat made her gain weight really bad to the point that she had to be put on half a cup of biscuits a day and then she just maintained the weight not lose the weight she put on. I have found my Amstaff does best of Advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I agree with the statement mentioned above different foods work for different dogs. Pro Plan did not work for my Amstaff she ended up losing all her coat and coming up in sores on ProPlan Puppy. I have tried numerous different dry foods with her and also found that Supercoat made her gain weight really bad to the point that she had to be put on half a cup of biscuits a day and then she just maintained the weight not lose the weight she put on. I have found my Amstaff does best of Advance. How's your Whippet going and what did you find worked for it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I have feed Proplan for over 15 yrs but only the salmon the other varieties haven't worked well for me & yes coat loss on the maintence & that was with another breed when used 20 yrs ago Most of us here won't feed science diet due to the very high wheat factor .for me its the worst of the worst Every product has its pros/cons. I have had no issues with the change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Danni Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We feed 9 GSDs on Pro Plan Performance and have had no issues to date. I have fed Pro Plan exclusively for the past 6 years and had fed it for 10 years before that. We were feeding another brand for a while, but it gave one of my dogs bad ear problems, so we switched back to Pro Plan exclusively. The formulas definitely changed when the product started to be manufactured in Australia and that was quite some time ago. Is this the first bag of the new formula/packaging that you have had? If so, (and I understand you were away) it should have been mixed gradually into the feed with the old formula to allow the gut flora time to adapt. What might have happened (and we had this happen with another premium food that changed formula and kept it secret), is that the microscopic mucosa in the digestive tract have been killed off and that is what is causing the diarrhoea, as the digestive system is not processing the food correctly. Much as I hate to say it, putting her on Science Diet ID for a while may assist until she is back to normal and then you can gradually wean her back onto "normal" food. For us, this process took about 3 months with a puppy that got sick from the food change at about 4 months old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest english.ivy Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Have you thought about trying Black Hawk Holstic? My two get the runs on other dry foods but they are great on Black Hawk I fed Salmon ProPlan to my Belgian a couple of years ago and wasn't happy with it. Dry coat, runs, flaky skin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atua Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 How's your Whippet going and what did you find worked for it ? We rehomed Dream to a young family with another Whippet. She didnt quite turn out for the show ring. Due to opening a new business and also taking on a contract to supply dog food at the cccq grounds each show at Durack made us make the decision to let her go. We could no longer go lure coursing which she loved so much on the weekends due to the dog food store at the show and long work hours meant that she wouldnt get the love and attention she deserved. We felt it was unfair to her being one of 4 dogs even though the dogs take turns in who gets to come to work it just didnt feel fair on her. It certainly wasn't an easy decision to make and if our circumstances had been different she would of been desexed and lived her life out with us. We believe we made the right decision in letting her go to a new home where she is now lapping up living inside with another Whippet as a play mate. She has been desexed and goes to the dog park almost everyday. The wife works from home so she has human company through out the day. We found Advance Turkey and Rice helped bulk her up a bit as well as lamb flaps. We had to stop giving her run of the yard all day and night because she wouldn't stop running around and therefore constantly burning it all off. Gee I miss her doing crazy zoomies around the yard and the other dogs not being able to catch her and getting frustrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Is this the first bag of the new formula/packaging that you have had? If so, (and I understand you were away) it should have been mixed gradually into the feed with the old formula to allow the gut flora time to adapt. . Bradley was told the ingredients were the same which gave him no reason to introduce the newly packaged food gradually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Previous dog was fine on it. New GSD had probs with is, the runs etc...was tolerable on the sensative one but still not 100%. We found SuperCoat sensative worked for ours. Not our preferred level of food but what ever works is better then the runs and continuous vet bills and damage to the intestinal tract. Not all foods are good for all dogs....Unfortunately our dogs are just as individual as ourselves. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minxy Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 My boy has only ever been on ProPlan and we've never had any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradley sheehan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Maybe compare the ingredients between the old and new versions and see if you can find what the culprit was Brad. Looking at them they are quite different. US version: Chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn germ meal, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, dried egg product, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, Vitamin E supplement, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite. T-4484 Aus version: Chicken, wholegrain wheat, poultry meal (natural source of glucosamine), corn gluten meal, wholegrain yellow corn, brewers rice, beef and/or lamb tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), oats, soybean meal, wheat by-product, dried yeast, salt, vitamin A supplement, whole egg, fish meal, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, zinc sulphate, iron sulphate, antioxidant, niacin, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), vitamin D3 supplement, manganous oxide, pantothenic acid, copper sulphate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulphate complex (source of vitamin K activity), potassium iodide, natural flavours, sodium selenite, biotin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auir Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Had a similar issue when they released the new packaging, i bought a bag of lamb and rice by mistake. Previously our BC could swap between lamb and rice to chicken and rice no problems. He had the runs for about 3 weeks even tho we stopped the lamb and rice after 2 days when the runs started. Result - we dont buy lamb and rice any more just chicken and rice, no variety but he does well on it and no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 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 Brad, once you have stabilised her you maybe able to then get small bags or samples to try her on very slowly and slowly narrow down one that works. I had to do that with mine as it was suggested that we had to go to prescription ones as well and I simply found for my girl anything with lamb was out and any of the expensive ones didn't work for mine. I tried SuperCoat sensative on a hunch after reading ingredients and people having dogs with allergies tolerating this one. I prefer a better brand of course but it works for her so she will now stay on that for sometime before we try a better one in some months time. Hopefully you will find something that works for yours soon too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyE Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I wont feed Proplan, so sorry to hear what happened to your dog. I love looking up the ingredients in these 'premium' foods on the dog food analysis site, gives you the pros and cons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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