Cat people - canned pumpkin

[mbcdefg]

The vet recommended giving canned pumpkin to my cat because he gets constipated every few months. I put some in their dishes last night and neither of them will touch it.

Do your cats like pumpkin? Any tips on getting them to eat it ... such as, can I mix it with something else?

[Deleted]

Do they get wet food? I'd mix it in with that.

My dog loves canned pumpkin and eats it first when it's in his bowl, but cats are usually pickier about food.

[steph96]

I heard squash can have the same effect you are wanting. Do you think he would eat that?

You could try mixing pumpkin with oatmeal?

[belovedbride07]

My mom feeds it to her cats because one has an ongoing constipation problem; she mixes it with "cat tuna" (just straight tuna sold on the cat food aisle; if you have any "people tuna"--Chicken of the Sea or whatever--that would work, too) to get him to eat it.

[MixedBerryJam]

I've never heard of canned pumpkin, but it makes sense. Have you tried canned green beans? That works like a charm for us.

[Lilac]

I've never tried to feed my cats pumpkin, but they'll eat ANYTHING that's in tuna juice. Another vote for trying that.

[Nonny]

All of our cats have loved straighted canned pumpkin. We just plop it on a plate and give a bit to them as a treat when baking in the winter, or if the little black one had the runs. Canned pumpkin apparently works to regulate the water level in their digestive track, so it will help with constipation and the runs.

Dumb question, but you are trying to give kitty straight canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, right?

[carfar]

My cat loves pumpkin. Tries to eat the innards we scrape when we carve them for Halloween.

[mbcdefg]

Thanks all - ill try mixing it with wet food or tuna. Right now they're not even attempting to try it (which is weird because our little one is a pig who will eat anything) so maybe a more appetizing mix-in will help.

Yes, it's straight pumpkin, not the pie filling.

[thoseareradishes]

I had to feed my cat pumpkin because he had idiopathic megacolon (constipation for unknown reasons). He happened to love it so I didn't have to mix it with anything. For cats with constipation, extra water that the pumpkin provides is helpful to keep them regular, along with the fiber (although they special food they give for cats with IM I believe is low fiber- more of the food is absorbed into their body so they have less poop).

I hope your cat finds some relief! It is a hard condition to deal with for both cat and owner.

[mbcdefg]

So I mixed it in with a can of wet food and they both cleaned their bowls Hopefully we won't have to do this same vet visit yet again.

I'll have to go stock up on canned food (I've always just fed them kibble and the vet said to do a mix of both wet food and kibble).