Has anyone ever had their dogs on any of the Purina RX formulas. When I took Tia in a few weeks ago because of her off and on bouts of diarreah and terrible shedding, he said if the short term medication he put her on didn't do the trick, he might look into putting her on the Purina RX diet. It's the JM formula. He said this same blend could be fed to Noel too, because of her knee problem. She has a appt on Feb 2 for shots and for their ortho vet to look at her x-rays taken at Banfield. She's starting to hold her rear leg up again. She's been fine since September, then this week she's started holding it up again :(

Other than the corn gluten meal (which he said was not the same as just straight corn) and the animal by products (which he said were not just ground up dead animals) what do you guys think. The ingredients are towards the bottom and it's high in protein. He said he's seen good results in this formula for dogs with skin problems and in dogs with joint problems before and after surgery.

I haven't made up my mind yet because Tia seems to be better since taking the endosorb, and they all 4 do well on the Solid Gold Hund & Flocken.

http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/CanineProductDetail.aspx?prod=224

He said this same blend could be fed to Noel too, because of her knee problem.


I'm sorry, for the life of me, I'm just not getting why your vet feels like this food will help her knee issue.:confused: How is fillers going to help with orthopedic issues? All it will do is put weight on the dog, and that in itself is a no no..I'm just a bit confused on that thinking..

If this was "me" I would not feed it. That food is asking for trouble if you ask me..

Jen

No idea Jen, but the JM stands for joint mobility. Maybe because of the Glucosamine in it. It doesn't matter. I just saw the price on another site and it's around $78.00 for a 35lb bag, so it's not going to happen. I'll continue with the Solid Gold and supplements.

However....I just found out that there's a Holistic Vet not 15 minutes from my house. I like that they practice both traditional and holistic medicines. Since I don't know anything about the holistic approach, I've attached their website link and maybe get some feedback from you all if I should give them a try or not. Most reviews were good. The biggest complaints were they don't really explain the chinese herbs and prices and that they're kind of pricey.

Click on the link and go to services. Tell me what you think
http://www.lovingtouchac.com/

Has she gotten any better or does she still have the shedding and the Diarrhea? I truthfully have not heard of the Purina Rx. Have you looked it up on the internet? I would definitely look it up up in the internet and be ready for the vet with some serious questions on the Feb 2 appt. Have you tried different Solid Gold products to see if she does better with another type? Somtething more blander? Low reisidue diets may help the diarrhea. Have they done stool cultures to make sure there is nothing going on in her GI tract? I am sorry I don't know her hx to well. I am just trying to help.
I have a Great Dane who in September we rushed him to the emergency vet. He is old in fact my vet is surprised he is still around. He is eleven. He is my baby (he is a mix between GD and something else). After $2,ooo and them still not finding why he was ill I took him out of there and back to our regular vet. $200.00 later we found out that he had a high bacteria count in his stool which antibiotics took care of and change of diet Low residue diet (I use Solid Gold Holistique) and he has been fine. If I would have kept him in the hospital God only knows how high the bill would have been. Most importantly they never did the simple thing of checking his stool. I am not criticizing their care because they have saved his life in the past. I am just saying that you have to be an "informed advocate" Just like you would be in your own personal care. Good Luck and hope everything turns out okay.:D

No idea Jen, but the JM stands for joint mobility. Maybe because of the Glucosamine in it.


You would get way more benefits from giving a supplement of glucosamine..Do you give anything now? I would definitely start if not..

I think it is a great idea to check out the other vet.:thumb4:

YIKES $78.00 :eek::eek:

Jen

Has she gotten any better or does she still have the shedding and the Diarrhea? I truthfully have not heard of the Purina Rx. Have you looked it up on the internet?We're talking about my chihuahua here with the shedding and diarrhea. Yes, he prescribed her some endosorb and she's had firm stools since. He did a fecal and everything was fine. I only gave it to her for about 3 days and changed her from the Solid Gold Wee Bits (Bison) to what the other 3 were eating. Solid Gold Hund & Flocken (lamb). I brushed her every night with the zoom groom and she's definately not shedding like she was. She's much better now. The Purina RX diets have been around awhile. We fed our old dachsund the OM formula years ago to loose weight, recommended by this same vet, however it did take the weight off of him.

Noel, our lab is the one with knee problems who I'll be taking in on Feb 2. She had loose stools on every food we tried until we started feeding her the Solid Gold along with the bug off garlic granules and fresh factor from Springtime. She's had bloodwork done twice and several fecals and it all came back fine. Actually, the vet said her bloodwork was "beautiful". This vet hasn't seen her for her knee problem yet. Her x-rays and diagnoses was done at Banfield. I just talked to this other vet about Noel while he was giving Tia a checkup.

I'm just going to tell him I can't afford the Purina JM with 4 dogs rather than get into a debate about fillers and junk. I've researched dogfood for the past 14 months and I'm not going to get in a ******g contest with him over it.

Jen, when Noel was suspected of having a luxating patella, the Banfield vet put her on Synovi Glucosimine with MSM and wanted her to loose weight. I stopped giving that when the 90 tablets were gone and switched over to the Springtime Fresh Factor because it covered more than just joints. I'm going to see what this new vet for Noel (old vet for my other dogs) has to say after looking at her x-rays. If I don't feel good about it, I'm definately going to check out the holistic vet. They do the surgery and also have a rehab facility next door with a pool etc.

Although not a fan of the Purina RX diets, they do serve a purpose as needed. There are many forumlas that end up being the ONLY thing a dog can eat when ill. For those reasons, I would feed it if I HAD to.
As far as the one with the knee problem, you can feed a better food and add GLUC/CHON/MSM (especially the MSM) to the food yourself. You can buy the human grade MSM. I give each of mine 1 tablet per day.
If/when the poopy runs and stomach issues are taken care of with the other dog, you can probably also switch back to a normal food at that time, as well. Sometimes with an ill dog, all they can tolerate are the RX diets.

I would just give Glucosomine supplements...I wouldn't feed a food that is primarily made of rice.

Jen, when Noel was suspected of having a luxating patella, the Banfield vet put her on Synovi Glucosimine with MSM and wanted her to loose weight. I stopped giving that when the 90 tablets were gone and switched over to the Springtime Fresh Factor because it covered more than just joints. I'm going to see what this new vet for Noel (old vet for my other dogs) has to say after looking at her x-rays. If I don't feel good about it, I'm definately going to check out the holistic vet. They do the surgery and also have a rehab facility next door with a pool etc.

Doesn't Springtime fresh factor just have Chondroitin Sulfate in it, and not Glucosimine or MSM? Good luck with the new vet:)

With your Chi and the diarrhea..Having a chi also, I can tell you that they do not tolerate alot of foods. They can be a challenge with the food issue and diarrhea:(

Jen

I just wanted to let you know that our first dog hurt her leg in the snow.They wanted to operate on her very expensive.I was in college then and my proffessor told me that shark cartledge had helped her labs when they had hurt their legs too.We put her on shark cartledge and no problems,she lived till 13.Just a thought.Tammy

Doesn't Springtime fresh factor just have Chondroitin Sulfate in it, and not Glucosimine or MSM? Good luck with the new vet:)

With your Chi and the diarrhea..Having a chi also, I can tell you that they do not tolerate alot of foods. They can be a challenge with the food issue and diarrhea:(

JenThis is what it says about the Fresh Factor:

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
Promotes strong joints and bones*
Helps dry up and heal hot spots and prevents new ones*
Restores bloom in older dogs
Promotes healthy joints in growing dogs*
Helps give all dogs a luxurious coat and itch-free skin
Enhances digestion/reduces stool size, cleanup
Promotes a playful, upbeat attitude
Provides raw food factors necessary for a dog’s optimal health
Contains equivalent of 10,000 mg of cartilage (50 to 1 concentrate) per tablet
Easy to feed chewables – highly palatable

GUARANTEED SPRINGTIME ANALYSIS
Yeast culture 350 mg/tablet
Chondroitin sulfate, min. 90% purity 250 mg/tablet
Bee pollen 215 mg/tablet
Beef or pork liver 215 mg/tablet
Kelp 90 mg/tablet
Biotin 700 mcg/tablet
Ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, yeast culture, chondroitin sulfate (min. 90% purity), bee pollen, beef/pork liver, stearic acid, kelp, biotin.

The Springtime Joint Health Tablets do contain the Glucosamine and MSM.
GUARANTEED SPRINGTIME ANALYSIS
MSM, 99% (methyl sulfonyl methane) 300 mg/tablet
Glucosamine HCL, 99% (shellfish extract) 250 mg/tablet
Beef or pork liver 200 mg/tablet
Chondroitin sulfate 175 mg/tablet
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) 125 mg/tablet
Carrot powder 100 mg/tablet
Citrus bioflavonoid complex, 40% 100 mg/tablet
Hesperidin, 95% 50 mg/tablet
Rutin (vitamin P) 830 mcg/tablet
Ingredients: dextrose, microcrystalline cellulose, MSM (99%), glucosamine HCL (99%), beef or pork liver, chondroitin sulfate (min. 90% purity), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), carrot powder, citrus bioflavonoid complex (40%), hesperidin (95%), stearic acid, and rutin (vitamin P).

It says using the Fresh Factor and Joint Health together is recommended, so I might order some of the joint health. I just don't want to stop using the Fresh Factor because these last 2 months are the first time Noel has had firm poops in about 10 months.

Thanks for pointing out that the Fresh Factor didn't contain the MSM or Glucosamine.

LaddieBabie, the Fresh Factor contains cartlidge, so I wonder if that's equivelant to shark cartlidge?

Thanks to all for the advice and I apologize for posting so much information about what's going on and what I'm using. I just want to make sure I'm giving what's best and go into this appointment on the 2nd with more knowlegde. That's where you guys come in :thumb4: