Consistent Soft Stools

Hi I have a 6 month old Lab/pit mix male. For the last 2 weeks he was having diarrhea and very soft stools. We tried a bland diet of chicken and rice and not even that helped. We have since taken him to the vet where he was prescribed antibiotics and pro pectalin tabs. For 2 days he had nice solid poops and his stool sample was negative. This morning was the last of the pectalin and he has about 2 days left of the antibiotics. Today he had a “soft ice cream” stool with dripping at the end. The vet suggested it could be a food intolerance. He’s currently on Purina Pro Plan Puppy Large Breed chicken and rice. He gets 1ish cups 3x’s a day. I was thinking of switching him to the Purina Pro Plan sensitive stomach salmon recipe for puppies. Thoughts? I would like to try and avoid and special diets and/or prescription dog food and keep that as a last resort. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello!  It's hard for me to comment on another vets' case out of context - did anything change in your house two and a half weeks ago?  Have worms, pancreatitis, liver disease, hyperthyoridism (rare in dogs) etc. been ruled out?  Do any of them need to be ruled out at this stage?   It sounds as though your vet has suggested bland prescription foods to help the stools.  In the UK at least, vets are not incentivized to increase profit (it isn't allowed) and will genuinely recommend things to do their best for the pet.  So if you were to call and say, 'Is there an alternative less expensive / non-manufactured / wet-food / dry food I could use?' then most vets will happily recommend something appropriate (I'm guessing at your concerns with the manufactured foods here - you haven't told me - they are usually just mass-produced good-quality foods with ingredients selected for a certain purpose).  I hope that something here helps.

In the UK, there are relatively few regulations limiting what is put in dog-food.  A lot of foods will describe themselves as being 'sensitive stomach' or 'low-allergen' but some of these terms might have relatively little in the way of technical meaning.  However, they may also look classier than regular dog-food.  Now:  I am not a nutritionist and this isn't my area.  Nor is it our rule to comment of named pet food manufacturers - whatever company you had named, my answer would be the same:  it is always a great idea to take your vets' recommendation on dietary changes.   Wishing you the best of luck, whatever you decide.