Proplan Sensitive Stomach...next, California Natural Lamb & Rice?

[s14roller]

Gang -

A few months ago my pup had an issue in that she's have 1 week of great looking stool, followed by 1-2 days of straight liquid stool. This would keep repeating.

We went through Wellness LBP and then Innova, both without consistent results. After a few months of trial and error, parasites were coming up negative, and our vet finally convinced me to try IAMs low-residue. She went on that for about a week, and then started having solid stool...this continued for 3 weeks and I slowly transitioned her to Proplan SS per recommendations here. She has done well on it for the last couple of weeks and I'm starting to think about the next step.

Ideally, I'd like to get her onto something a bit better. She's pooping a lot now so I'm not exactly sure how much of the PP SS she's absorbing.

She's almost done with a 15lb bag, I'll buy one more 15lb and then start to transition her...but to what?

California Naturals has been one that's been recommended a few times to me for dogs with a potentially sensitive stomach. I say potentially because maybe it was just the chicken that didn't agree with her.

I'm leaning toward the CN Lamb & Rice...are there any others that I should consider as well that have worked well for you in the past (if you had similar digestive issues with your GSDs). Would a grain-free version be even better or would it be too rich for her?

Thanks!

[WVGSD]

If she is doing well on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach, why do you feel that you have to change? I am not being ugly, just asking. My GSD went through four months of recurrent and intermittent diarrhea this year. I tried several different kibbles, assuming that his issue was food intolerance. I even tried a limited ingredient (rice and salmon) kibble. Nothing worked consistently. I finally talked to my vet, questioned him about SIBO, did a trial of Tylan powder, and he has not had diarrhea since the beginning of June. Once I got the diarrhea stopped, I put him on Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and he is still eating it. His Tylan powder has been weaned down from two capsules twice daily to one capsule every other day currently. His weight is up and he is feeling much better and much more playful and engaged.

The reason that I mention this is that, if you compare the ingredients, Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach is not far off from a limited ingredient grain free diet. There is only one protein (salmon) and just two carbohydrates (rice and oatmeal). If you have a dog with diarrhea and have found a kibble that works, I would really recommend not changing unless the dog's health status changes. There is no chicken meal, no dairy, no wheat, corn or soy in this kibble.

When Max, my GSD, was first being treated for his SIBO and stopped having diarrhea, his stools were quite large. He is also a 95 pound 30 inch tall dog. Now, his stools are much smaller and there are days that he only has one stool per day - sometimes two, sometimes just once.

My recommendation is that you stay with what is working and give it time to work fully. It took a while for Max's GI system to calm down and it might be possible that your dog's system needs more time to stabilize in a similar manner.

As an aside, my mother has used this same kibble with her many German Shepherds for years and years and I use it with my rescues and retired show non-GSDs too. We have no skin issues, no allergy issues and no gut challenges either. I have personally tried quite a few of the super premium kibbles and had not had the success that I had hoped for. I keep coming back to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and the Pro Plan Selects line as well.

[s14roller]

I do agree with your thoughts, and it's usually what I respond if someone also asks a similar question.

I'm OK with staying on the PP SS if it's what my dog can handle...I suppose it's more out of curiosity to see if she'd do well on some others that might have some better ingredients. I agree that I'll be going through at least another large bag, but I can't help but wonder about the other options out there. Similar to when you tried some of the higher end kibble, I'm also trying to see if there's a next step to consider.

[WVGSD]

Baed upon the fact that you have determined that your dog does well with a fish-based food, I would recommend the California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato kibble if that is an option for you. I would not change the major protein source from fish to lamb as you really don't know what was causing your dog's diarrhea at this point and are basically doing food trials. The CN Herring and Sweet Potato is made for sensitive dogs and is also grain-free. It might be a good one to try if you want to get away from the PP Sensitive Skin and Stomach.

Natural Dog Food, Cat Food and Puppy Food for Pets With Food Sensitivity ? California Natural

It is all herring for protein and the carbohydrates are barley, oatmeal and sweet potato. If I could get food like this, I would also give it a try.

[BlackGSD]

Originally Posted by WVGSD

. The CN Herring and Sweet Potato is made for sensitive dogs and is also grain-free.

It is all herring for protein and the carbohydrates are barley, oatmeal and sweet potato. If I could get food like this, I would also give it a try.

That good isn't grain free. Oats and barley are grains.

[Good_Karma]

When Rosa was a puppy, she had a very sensitive stomach (she had a rough start in life with lots of worms, she was a rescue from a bad situation). Anyway she did very well on California Naturals. That was actually the only food that she had solid poops on. As she got older, things got better but still to this day, both of my dogs have the best poops on CN. Now we feed them the grain free venison formula.

It is a really calorie dense food, which is good because a bag will last the two dogs about 48 days (a big bag, the one that is close to 30 lbs, not sure what the exact weight is), but bad because we are trying to keep the dogs lean, so I feel badly that their meals look so tiny.

Not sure if this food is ideal for a puppy (as far as the nutrient ratios, I'm not well-informed on this topic) but I figured it was more important for our dogs to not have constantly runny poops.

[WVGSD]

My oops - they are grains, but not considered to be "dirty" grains such as corn and wheat.

[Rerun]

I'd stick with what's working.