Prescription Dog Food

[Anonymous]

Our still growing large breed dog (13 months old, currently around 100lbs) has been having loose stools a few days a week for the past few months. He's been on Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy kibble since we first got him. There's been no change in diet or treats, and it seems strange that this has only become a recurring problem in recent months. Also worth noting that he has developed flaky skin that is noticeable because of his black coat.

We took him to the vet. The vet didn't show any concern about the flaky (dandruff like) skin issue even though I noted that he itches a couple times an hour - because he had no hotspots or signs of irritation. Regarding the loose stools the vet gave us a prescription for dog food specially for dogs with sensitive stomachs, and simply said we can try that if we like.

Given the cost of the prescription food we opted first to try the Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Sensitive Stomach and Skin kibble (thinking maybe the chicken in his old food was causing a food allergy of some sort). Unfortunately, we haven't seen any improvement in his frequent loose stools or flaky skin.

At this point I'm willing to try the prescription dog food, but I'm wondering where the best place(s) are to get it. When I first checked it was crazy expensive, so I'm hoping some on this board can share their advice on using prescription dog food and who sells it for the best price. At 100lbs and likely growing to 115-120 eventually, going this route isn't something we prefer to do - but we're not sure what else to try.

[Anonymous]

OP again, I forgot to mention that we've also tried using probiotics, and the jury is out on whether it's helping much if any.

[Anonymous]

Chewy has a significant discount on the first bag for setting up an autoship. I think I came out around $60 for the 25lb bag after the discount. If it doesn't help, you can cancel before the next autoship so that you aren't out too much to try the prescription food.

[Anonymous]

Did you try adding a couple tablespoons of canned pumpkin? That usually clears things up for my dog.

[Anonymous]

Most vets know little to nothing about nutrition. If you're going to try prescription food anyway, consider switching to a whole foods diet (for dogs). We feed our dog Steve's Real Food dog food patties (we get it locally from Big Bad Woof). This is what our vet recommended for when we got our dog as a puppy. Not a huge breed, but a Lab, and full-grown she's 70 pounds now.

She also gets fermented dairy (either whole milk yogurt or kefir) once a day and we alternate between canned pumpkin and defrosted veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots) twice a day. She gets fish oil once a day as well (VRS Canine Omega Benefits).

She hardly ever gets diarrhea -- she got it a couple of times when she was still a puppy -- when she did, we gave her DiaGel and PetRX clay on our vet's recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Has your puppy had a course or two of Metronidazole? Giardia tends to present itself this way, and may not be found in stool samples.

One other thing you can try before you go the prescription food route (because I am thinking your dog has food allergies), is to try a limited ingredients diet. Pick something with both novel protein and carb source if possible, although rice is generally not something that causes allergies, so should be fine.

[Anonymous]

The Rx food is the same price every where that I checked when we had to use it a few months ago. Even Chewy was the same price as our vet. Luckily, our dog’s issues cleared up after about a month on the food (and our guy is only 50 lbs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rx food is the same price every where that I checked when we had to use it a few months ago. Even Chewy was the same price as our vet. Luckily, our dog’s issues cleared up after about a month on the food (and our guy is only 50 lbs).

OP here. Thanks all for the suggestions. I think we will try adding some pumpkin to his diet first (was just reading about that more).

Here is the math I am looking at. He gets 6.5 cups a day for roughly 100 lb of kibble a month - is a healthy weight and still growing. Using Chewy's pricing:

1) Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy is $89 for a 47 lb bag = $1.90/lb = $190/month
2) Purina Por Plan Large Breed Sensitive Stomach and Skin is $92 for a 35 lb bag = $2.62/lb = $262/month
3) Royal Canin Gastro RX at Chewy is $105 for a 22 lbs bag = $4.77/lb = $477/month

So from what I can tell the RX kibble will be way more expensive.

[Anonymous]

It’s going to be expensive everywhere. We used Chewy but the type we used was for dogs with kidney disease and we had to use the canned version. Got a slight discount for subscribing to auto ship but not much. For the last 2 years of his life we were spending almost $800 a month on that food. Dry version is probably a little cheaper , though. No advice really but I commiserate with you.

[Anonymous]

Please read the reviews for that Purina Pro Plan Sensitive stomach- I would NOT put my dog on that! Look on Chewy, PetSmart, etc.

[Anonymous]

I would probably try a Natural Balance LID kibble first. It sounds like you are concerned about allergies, which I would be as well and that the prescription food would be an attempt to address that. But you can try a LID kibble that isn't prescription (and the associated cost) first -- Natural Balance has multiple formulas: salmon and sweet potato, lamb and rice (this was always the first go-to for dogs with GI issues), and some venison and bison formulas as well (the protein is usually the issue).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please read the reviews for that Purina Pro Plan Sensitive stomach- I would NOT put my dog on that! Look on Chewy, PetSmart, etc.

There are actually different Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach formulas. Some have had recent bad reviews and some haven’t. We use the salmon formula for adult large breeds (the bag with a German Shepherd on it). We’ve had no issues. There’s also a salmon and rice formula for adult large breeds that has had complaints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rx food is the same price every where that I checked when we had to use it a few months ago. Even Chewy was the same price as our vet. Luckily, our dog’s issues cleared up after about a month on the food (and our guy is only 50 lbs).

OP here. Thanks all for the suggestions. I think we will try adding some pumpkin to his diet first (was just reading about that more).

Here is the math I am looking at. He gets 6.5 cups a day for roughly 100 lb of kibble a month - is a healthy weight and still growing. Using Chewy's pricing:

1) Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy is $89 for a 47 lb bag = $1.90/lb = $190/month
2) Purina Por Plan Large Breed Sensitive Stomach and Skin is $92 for a 35 lb bag = $2.62/lb = $262/month
3) Royal Canin Gastro RX at Chewy is $105 for a 22 lbs bag = $4.77/lb = $477/month

So from what I can tell the RX kibble will be way more expensive.

You’re calculating the price as though he will eat 100lbs of kibble no matter what kind you choose, but they’ll each have a different number of calories per cup, so an appropriate serving won’t be the same number of cups for each kibble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would probably try a Natural Balance LID kibble first. It sounds like you are concerned about allergies, which I would be as well and that the prescription food would be an attempt to address that. But you can try a LID kibble that isn't prescription (and the associated cost) first -- Natural Balance has multiple formulas: salmon and sweet potato, lamb and rice (this was always the first go-to for dogs with GI issues), and some venison and bison formulas as well (the protein is usually the issue).

My dog with GI issues does well with Natural Balance. She eats the duck or salmon formulas. They make it in a wet version too if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rx food is the same price every where that I checked when we had to use it a few months ago. Even Chewy was the same price as our vet. Luckily, our dog’s issues cleared up after about a month on the food (and our guy is only 50 lbs).

OP here. Thanks all for the suggestions. I think we will try adding some pumpkin to his diet first (was just reading about that more).

Here is the math I am looking at. He gets 6.5 cups a day for roughly 100 lb of kibble a month - is a healthy weight and still growing. Using Chewy's pricing:

1) Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy is $89 for a 47 lb bag = $1.90/lb = $190/month
2) Purina Por Plan Large Breed Sensitive Stomach and Skin is $92 for a 35 lb bag = $2.62/lb = $262/month
3) Royal Canin Gastro RX at Chewy is $105 for a 22 lbs bag = $4.77/lb = $477/month

So from what I can tell the RX kibble will be way more expensive.

You’re calculating the price as though he will eat 100lbs of kibble no matter what kind you choose, but they’ll each have a different number of calories per cup, so an appropriate serving won’t be the same number of cups for each kibble.

The serving sizes for our size dog and breed don't appear to be that different, unfortunately