Pumpkin (how much to give?)

My dogs love sweet potato too. But potato does have higher levels of starch than pumpkin so pumpkin is much easier for dogs to digest (they don't break down starch as well as us), esp if it is mashed.

I suggest if you give sweet potato you feed it mashed as mashing helps break down the starch into simpler forms for the dog to digest. This will help them access the fibre more readily and should help keep the stools firm.
 
Sweet potato is good for dogs, but if you are trying to regulate digestion you want to use pumpkin, because as Caro said, it doesn't have as much starch. I've only ever heard nutritionists recommend pumpkin for the runs, I don't think sweet potato would have the same effect.
 
I've just switched the canned food that I was giving Bacca to entice him to eat from Merricks "Wing a Lings" (which had whole wings, bones, included) to Merricks "Thanksgiving Day Dinner". It too has sweet potatoe in it.

OMG! Bacca has been a chow hound ever since (ok - it's only been two meals, but he ate both in one sitting). I wonder if its the sweet potatoe?

That being said, because I need to start regulating their calorie intake, I will be switching to the pumpkin as a taste enhancer rather than canned food in the next few weeks.
 
I've never given my pups mashed sweet potatoes but I have bought dried as treats. they do like those and Callie of course, the vegetable hound, will eat them raw. Apparently, one time at the pet sitter/boarding place that they frequent, Callie decided not to wait and chewed into the bag that was on the floor- not too sure how much she ate. I learned that much later - such a silly girl :wink2:
 
Pumpkin Shortage??

I was at the supermarket today and wanted to pick up my regular can of pumpkin. I noticed the shelves were pretty bare, with only the premium brand available. When I asked, I was told that pumpkin will be hard to come by this year because it's been such a wet season the pumpkin crop is terrible. I don't know if that's the case only here in the states, but a heads up to everyone...if you are able to find canned pumpkin I'd stock up. That's what I'm going to do!

Figures, every time you find something really good that works, it disappears...:uhoh:
 
Ann said:
I was at the supermarket today and wanted to pick up my regular can of pumpkin. I noticed the shelves were pretty bare, with only the premium brand available. When I asked, I was told that pumpkin will be hard to come by this year because it's been such a wet season the pumpkin crop is terrible. I don't know if that's the case only here in the states, but a heads up to everyone...if you are able to find canned pumpkin I'd stock up. :
Click to expand...

I've been looking for pumpkin locally (in 4 different grocery stores) for the past 6 weeks and have come up with nothing. I noted on a food forum a few weeks ago that shipments were to resume around the end of September.

I also see that pumpkin is a member of the squash family... and then I started wondering whether other high fiber vegetables might be interchanged for pumpkin, such as legumes: lentils, etc., which are also low calorie and wonderfully high in fiber.
 
Katherine said:
I've been looking for pumpkin locally (in 4 different grocery stores) for the past 6 weeks and have come up with nothing. I noted on a food forum a few weeks ago that shipments were to resume around the end of September.
Click to expand...

It's just so strange how it's completely cleared out. Maybe I should've bought that huge can when I was at the store the other day.

Thanks everyone for your responses about sweet potato versus pumpkin. If I can't find pumpkin this weekend, I'll start him on the mashed sweet potato (btw, that's how it comes in the can).

Here's a link to what I bought: http://www.nummytumtum.com/products.html
 
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