I've had two labs but adopted both in their adult stage of life, both had stomachs of steel! My husband and I brought home our very first puppy 3 weeks ago, he was exactly 8 weeks of age. The breeder let us know what she was feeding him (Purina Pro Plan Puppy - Chicken & Rice) and we had that food ready to go for him at home as we knew switching up a diet can cause GI upset. The first week went great. Solid stools and no upset stomach. But for the last two weeks, we've been dealing with constant diarrhea. All tests have come back negative. He's had Endosorb, Pro-Pectalin and I finally convinced the vet to get him on a round of antibiotics despite negative tests. We had a break in diarrhea during the antibiotics & probiotic doses, but after the meds were up, back came the loose stools and endless trips to the yard in the middle of the night. It's to the point where we are getting up 5-6 a night to let him out to relieve himself. We are exhausted! We've tried all the (known to us) tricks - rice & boiled chicken, a tablespoon of pumpkin, etc. We completely eliminated all treats (which is no fun for him with training, only using kibble as a reward, which doesn't feel like much of a reward at all) in case those were the culprit. I'm now wondering if it's his kibble. It's the only remaining thing that hasn't been elimated. I'd love to hear from you all about what worked for your puppy and what your vet recommended. Our vet just keeps saying Purina Pro works great, but something's gotta give over here! Thanks in advance
I can relate to your frustration. We were having the same issue with our pup. We got her in February and all was good for about 3 weeks then the crap hit the fan. Had her tested over and over again on 3 different antibiotics on the royal canin special food which is very costly all to which was okay until the antibiotics ran out, then back to square one. She was on the purina beef for puppies, so we thought it was the food. Put her on eukanuba which wasn't any better. She is now on purina pro plan chicken and rice but I think she is allergic to something in the foods as she is always itchy. However we did realize she was eating the stuff falling out of the pine trees. The male pine cones, the twirling helicopters and I believe it was making her sick. Finally with all said our vet put her on probiotic which seemed to do the trick. I didn't want any more antibiotics. She is now 10 months and doing well with solid stools bit we have to try and watch what she may consume outside, which I may add is everything! Ask your veterinarian for a probiotic and see if that helps. I do know there were some treats and still some treats that will giver her very soft stools. Hope this helped.
Don’t know where you’re based but in the uk there is a website called all about dog food which gives you the nutritional content of most of the well known brands and you can search for diet specific requirements eg no chicken etc. Might help you to choose an alternative. Mine came to us on Acana puppy/junior and does really well on it, consistently good poops and still sees it as a ‘treat’ (albeit low value!) at 5months old.
Our vet used Purina chicken for pups and they changed the formula right around the time we picked him up. Loose stools for a bit but now it seems okay but have to be careful with treats. My old lab, we changed food 3 times before we realized it was from things he picked up outside, he had allergies and sensitivity to certain things. Usually chicken and rice works well.I hope you found the right balance.
Sorry to hear your little one has been poorly. Our experience with 2 pups: We started with Nutriment raw food from the breeder which we continued and then gradually swapped over to Tails at around 5 months and my girl Alma has had no tummy troubles at all (touch wood). Vets are wonderful but sometimes certain food just doesn't agree with some pups. We had issues with our second pup Murphy, breeder gave us Royal Canin labrador puppy kibble and he had very loose stools that were greasy and off colour, he also had terrible wind and bad breath. Spoke to the vet about it and they said stick with the Royal Canin. Things didn't get any better so we opted to swap over to Tails and since then no tummy troubles for Murphy, his breath is so much better and the wind! Hope this helps!
