Indulging in everything from pumpkin beers to lattes has become a rite of fall for us humans, but your dog can also get in on the seasonal fun. Pumpkin is likely already in the food your pet eats, according to FDA reports and a reading of these top-notch freeze-dried food labels, and boasts some health benefits as well. Read on to make sure you get the right kind of pumpkin.
It Can Help Digestive Issues
Stomach aches happen to the best of us (and not just after overdoing it on Thanksgiving), and dogs aren’t immune. Pumpkin can help with digestive issues.
Whole Dog Journal Founding Editor Nancy Kerns keeps plain canned pumpkin on hand at all times. She’s sworn by it since her dog, Woody, ingested too much sand on a beach trip. After a few days of eating pumpkin, he was on the mend. Whole Dog Journal contributor Mary Straus also uses pumpkin for upset stomachs and offers these tips and recipes.
Pumpkin also acts as a binder and firms up loose stools in dogs — and it’s palatable to boot. Whole Dog Journal contributor Shari Mann suggests using plain canned pumpkin to make liver-pumpkin cookies (since liver is known to cause loose stools, adding pumpkin is essential).
Hold the Spice
Sugar and spice aren’t too nice for pups. Though pumpkin pie may be your favorite Thanksgiving dessert, avoid canned pumpkin that has added sugar or spices. Plain canned pumpkin is the stuff you want. You can sometimes find it sold in pet supply stores and labeled for dogs (and about twice the price), but it’s absolutely the same stuff you can buy in supermarkets.
Canned pumpkin is highly palatable; most dogs will eat it mixed into their kibble or other food, or lick it right off a spoon. But if you want to make the treat a little more festive, try these mini-pumpkin pies made with plain pumpkin.
Read Next: What Vegetables Can Dogs Eat?
I give my dogs ground pumpkins seeds & whole seeds daily. Being with greyhound rescue we see a lot of greyhounds with resistant worms, especially hookworms. A 2013 Dogs Naturally article mention that pumpkin seeds kills intestinal worms. excerpt of article below
While many greyhound rescuers have to give dewormers for 6 months to a year for resistant worms, my greys have only had to their 1st off the track dewormer with no new infections.
Pumpkin Seeds Fight Worms
The flesh and seeds of the pumpkin have been used to heal wounds, cure kidney ailments and urinary problems and were used as a parasitic treatment on humans. In recent times, herbalists have discovered that the seeds of the pumpkin also work as an effective deworming agent against tapeworms and other intestinal parasites in dogs and humans.
Pumpkin seeds contain the amino acid called cucurbitin, which paralyzes and eliminates the worms from the digestive tract. Pumpkin seeds have other health benefits too – they are loaded with protein, amino acids, fiber, iron, copper, phosphorus and magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, folic acid and niacin; all important nutrients to your pet’s overall good health.
Feeding Directions
Pumpkin seeds can be fed whole as a treat for your dog. Don’t feed him the salted seeds from the grocery store; find some raw, organic seeds instead. If your dog doesn’t enjoy them as a treat, you can grind them in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet and add them to his meals. Give him a teaspoon per ten pounds of body weight once or twice a day until he’s rid of the parasites.
My dog loves boiled pumpkin. Of course, I try to feed the dog only the best natural products and pumpkin is a wonderful seasonal product. It contains a lot of useful vitamins and minerals. You can cook a lot of delicious pumpkin dishes. For example, you can cook soup based on meat, pumpkin and beets. It is very tasty and useful.