I have a cat with digestive issues, so I have to mix his food with a spoonful of canned pumpkin. Well, my GF and I spent all of yesterday going to every grocery store in the area and no one has canned pumpkin. Apparently there is a shortage and/or recall according to all of the store employees we spoke to.
So my question is, what would be a suitable substitute that is safe for pets? Would some other type of pureed vegetable work? Failing that, can I just mix in a spoonful of Metamucil?
It would be most helpful that whatever it is be of neutral flavor or flavorless lest the cat may just choose to not eat at all.
The OP said there were reports of a “pumpkin shortage.” There was also a pumpkin shortage in 2010, 2009, 2008… These pumpkin shortages seemed to be reported every summer, and are miraculously over in September.
Folks, that ain’t a food shortage, that’s called a growing season.
We feed our dogs a homecooked diet that includes sweet potato and Metamucil (unflavored). The recipe was developed for us by a canine dietician (not one of the jobs that comes up a lot on Career Day!)
I’ve given cats unflavored Matamusil with a vet’s OK. Sprinkle it onto the gravy of canned food, give it half a second to dissolve a bit. Make sure Fluffy is drinking lotsa water - our cats do seem to drink more if I change out their water bowl twice a day.
Either canned or frozen squash should work just fine, as a pumpkin is just a type of squash. Around here, frozen squash is readily available all year round.
I had this problem a couple years ago and even posted a thread about it. Squash works out just fine. You can also use Metamucil – for dogs. I have no idea about cats, but I don’t know how you’d get the kitty to drink such a thing. I would mix it up in… some squash.
Or whatever you can get the cat to eat. I can’t imagine getting my cat to eat pumpkin or squash, but the dogs ate it up like they were starving to death.
Two of my three cats think canned pumpkin is the food of the gods. One will not touch it. However, the two that like it, especially the one who has digestive issues, only like it room temp and only from a freshly-opened can. :smack:
I’ve been giving my elderly calico with digestive issues a generous spoolful of plain yogurt every morning. I make the yogurt myself so I know it’s got active cultures. It seems to help her, um, consistency a lot. And again, she thinks its the food of the gods.
DCnDC, may I ask what sort of problems you are having with your cat?
I ask because I got the recommendation of adding fiber to the diet of our cat who had megacolon, but a low-residue diet ended up being much better for him.
It’s a little early for pumpkins, but I bet you’ll find some butternut squash in the produce section. Chop it into bite size chunks (no need to peel it), nuke it with a little water for 2-3 minutes until soft. Functionally equivalent to canned pumpkin, and maybe even better for constipated kitty, since it’s unpureed.
I – and a few others – give my dog canned pumpkin for diarrhea. That’s also the sense I thought that an upstream post mentioned pectin (as in kaopectate, why apple pie sets up, etc).
My 2 cents:
1)
Make sure that the mush is sugarless
2)
Baby food works great
Metamucil is recommended often for kitties. Start with 1/4 teaspoon to replace the pumpkin (don’t know if you give it once or twice daily). More than that could cause problems, but depending on how kitty does with it, I’ve seen some given up to 1/2 teaspoon, but that’s a lot for a cat. It shouldn’t be a problem to use pumpkin when available and Metamucil when you can’t get pumpkin.