Pumpkin for my puppy with diarrhea?

Discussion in 'Labrador Health' started by Jenn K., Dec 8, 2016.

  1. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Winter festival squash is my favourite. Grow it every year. Very reliable, and much tastier than butternut, I think.
     
  2. Teller's mom

    Teller's mom Registered Users

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    Not at all a fan of butternut squash, at least what I've tasted in recipes over here; and it's fairly common here during the fall. You'll find it in all sorts of raviolis and soups. I don't know if I've had winter festival squash before... I think I've seen it in stores? @JulieT - How do you prepare it?
     
  3. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    I mainly just roast it, or use it in risottos. I grow my own, so I never have very many, and they are super popular, so they go quickly.

    It looks like this:

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Teller's mom

    Teller's mom Registered Users

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    @JulieT - I've definitely seen those around the store during the fall. I will have to try it in a risotto. I've tried butternut squash risotto and it was fairly nauseating.
     
  5. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Maybe you don't like risotto? Or butternut squash. Which is understandable.
     
  6. Teller's mom

    Teller's mom Registered Users

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    @JulieT - I have a lovely mushroom risotto recipe I use. It's just the butternut squash I don't like, lol.
     
  7. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    Butternut can be overly sweet and rich and, yes, nauseating. But, done right - which for me means simply roasted, or simply mashed with cumin - it's delicious :)

    I've never had winter squash. On my bucket list :)
     
  8. Jenn K.

    Jenn K. Registered Users

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    Well...this took a turn I never expected. I am not a squash person myself. I like pumpkin "squares" (like a pumpkin cake) with cream cheese icing the best. By the way, my husband just read an article that most of the canned "pumpkin" in the US is actually a mix of squash because pumpkin doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own....

    Just thought I would update about the pumpkin...for my puppy.... I ended up seeing more posts about using it for constipation, so I am not taking any chances as we are on day four with our puppy bowel movement problems.

    Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate the time and consideration.
    Jenn
     
  9. Jenn K.

    Jenn K. Registered Users

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    Yes, we are mixing a grain free wet food from the vet with rice and some medicine (antibiotics for infection) for five days. I also saw a recipe with boiled chicken, rice, and warm water on a blog. Same blog I saw pumpkin and plain yogurt (probiotic) recipe, btw. I am anxious as this is my first ever puppy. I am not sure what is "normal" and I do not know when she should be feeling better; what to expect....

    I have mixed feelings about trusting my vet for ALL my dog advice. We have cats that have been seeing him for two years and we like our vet a lot. I am just learning that there are a lot of differing opinions about puppy/dog care, as with anything I guess.

    I feel so bad for our puppy and I know she wants to be back to her old self too. She was chasing the cats this morning so I think she is feeling a little bit better. :)
     
  10. Jenn K.

    Jenn K. Registered Users

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    Yes, we are mixing a grain free wet food from the vet with rice and some medicine (antibiotics for infection) for five days. I also saw a recipe with boiled chicken, rice, and warm water on a blog. Same blog I saw pumpkin and plain yogurt (probiotic) recipe, btw. I am anxious as this is my first ever puppy. I am not sure what is "normal" and I do not know when she should be feeling better; what to expect....

    I have mixed feelings about trusting my vet for ALL my dog advice. We have cats that have been seeing him for two years and we like our vet a lot. I am just learning that there are a lot of differing opinions about puppy/dog care, as with anything I guess.

    I feel so bad for our puppy and I know she wants to be back to her old self too. She was chasing the cats this morning so I think she is feeling a little bit better. :)
     
  11. samandmole

    samandmole Registered Users

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    With my pup and also my old rescue who had pancreatitis we used boiled chicken rice and water until everything firmed up then gradually reintroduced the kibble mixed in with the chicken and rice. It worked really well for us.
     
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  12. Snowshoe

    Snowshoe Registered Users

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    That's true and I've seen it on the label. Though now there are special "pie" pumpkins that do have more taste and the big ones meant for Halloween carving have very little taste. Most of my pumpkin pies I make from my own squash that I grow myself and my favourite is Sweet Mama. I'd love to make one from purple fleshed sweet potato but I haven't been able to find any and they don't grow well here.

    Sorry, another highjack ^. Hope your recipe works, I know how worried you must be after what we went through. If this helps, good. If it doesn't please consider my post above on how rice might not help and didn't help Oban.
     
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  13. MF

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    Just been reading this thread. It has been over a week since you last wrote so I'm hoping she is better already? Regarding to feed or not feed pumpkin: you're feeding rice, which basically amounts to the same thing if your intention was to introduce fibre. Was there a reason you went for grain-free wet food but then added rice (a grain)?

    I must confess I often wondered why "canned" pumpkin is always recommended. Why not cook some fresh pumpkin? We need to give our boy Potassium Bromide (for epilepsy) every morning. It's a vile-tasting liquid (I tasted it to check -- awful taste!). We give it to him in a little mashed sweet potato (which we cook) and he sits there drooling for it! We can't feed it with his breakfast cos he gets raw food and there'd be no way of guaranteeing that he'd ingest it all.

    I've just spent the last hour or two reading up on fibre -- didn't mean to, but I'm avoiding an end-of-year work deadline!! I included "scholarly articles" in my search criteria because that generally brings up scientific research papers. There is evidence that fibre "reduced acute intestinal infections and significantly slowed diarrhea" in human babies (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257631/).

    I didn't find similar papers for dogs. This paper on fibre and companion animals might interest you https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3775244/ although it has no references to diarrhea or infections in puppies; it talks about fibre playing a role in laxation and stool quality, about the water-binding effects of fibre, and also lowering the glycaemic index (although one needs to question why a person would be feeding a dog a high-carb diet in the first place -- beware too much rice (grains) and root veg!).

    Pro-Kolin is kaolin and pectin -- clay and soluble dietary fibre. Pectin is readably available in fruits such as apples.

    As for pellets that may only sold by vets -- I just saw an ad from a very large plant nursery that is now selling Royal Canin, which I always understood may only be sold by vets or vetshops. (You can tell I am rather sceptical about the whole notion that ordinary mortals are not capable of feeding their pets nutritionally sound meals prepared at home.)

    I understand why products are manufactured: the entrepreneur saw a gap in the market and a way to make money, and for the consumer who likes the ease of use, is guaranteed a specific effect (hopefully), and who feels they're doing the right thing by their pet. But so often you can find the ingredients you need in your pantry without spending a fortune. One of the products I find most laughable is the prebiotic, which is basically fibre in a powder form. You can as easily give your dog pumpkin in that case.
     
  14. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Apart from the fact that pumpkin contains a titchy amount of soluble fibre, that is - which is supposedly why it works. Well, according to the chart here: http://www.dietitians.ca/Downloads/Factsheets/Food-Sources-of-Soluble-Fibre.aspx

    Interestingly, I'm just back from the emergency vet with Charlie who has had liquid poo for the last 3 day, and asked whether their was any food that could help. The answer was feed nothing - the best thing is for him to have nothing in his tummy, and certainly not a load of fibre.
     
  15. charlie

    charlie Registered Users

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    I hope Charlie is OK, poor boy :( I agree no food for a bad tummy for dogs and children, that's what I do, it's miserable but it's the only, starve the bug don't feed it. x
     
  16. MF

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    Sorry to hear. Hope he gets better soon.

    I'm guessing people feed dog's fibre when they have runny poos because it has worked in human babies -- given the research that showed that soluble fibre "reduced acute intestinal infections and significantly slowed diarrhea" in human babies (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257631/). Perhaps more likely it is because of friendly advice on forums such as this. I do agree with your vet to give nothing, except water.

    But the point I was making at the end where I said you might as well feed pumpkin was in response to prebiotics, which are given to increase the bacteria in the gut. Bacteria feed on fibre. Those prebiotics are costly when you could be getting it a whole lot cheaper by feeding the whole food.

    A note on fibre: there is a distinction between soluble and insoluble fibre. I think most people think of insoluble fibre when they think of fibre -- all that roughage from bran cereals and bran muffins. That would make a runny tummy even worse! Whole foods contain both types, but the soluble fibre absorbs water and becomes gel-like. Just try adding water to crushed linseeds to see the effect of water and soluble fibre (they're great as egg substitutes in baking, in case anyone is interested!).
     
  17. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Oh, ok. :) Sorry.
     
  18. MF

    MF Registered Users

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    No worries! :)

    Just thinking about no food for puppies with diarrhoea. Puppies would probably need a different strategy to adult dogs. I'm guessing a vet would want a puppy to be ingesting fluids and energy in some form. Fasting a puppy? Obviously I'd go with the vet's advice, but I'd imagine fasting a puppy is an unlikely option?
     
  19. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    I think if a small puppy was seriously at risk of de-hydration from diarrhoea, I'd want it in the vets taking in fluids from an IV.
     
  20. Jenn K.

    Jenn K. Registered Users

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    Hi, Yes she is better, thanks!

    I never fed her any pumpkin.

    We went with the recommendation from our vet, the grain free wet food as an alternative to plain boiled chicken or hamburger meat with our own added white rice. Yes, it seemed "easier" to my husband than cooking at the time (oddly, I was home boiling chicken while he was with the puppy at the vet buying the canned food). We had not given her any food for almost 24 hours - again, vet advice. She was also throwing up nothing but bile and went on ice cubes (2 every hour) instead of water for 12 hours. It truly was a sad mess. The vet's office (whoever I spoke with on the phone) had told us about the boiled chicken or hamburger meat with rice earlier before our appointment. I found a recipe on a blog, along with a recipe for pumpkin and yogurt, I mentioned that before I think.... I was at home preparing for the okay to give her food again when the vet then recommended his food. (I saw someone mentioned about that on this thread as well.)

    I just used the chicken and made chicken and rice soup for us humans then. :)

    When I posted this thread I was so desperate to help her. I really felt awful that she was so sick. The posts I had read about pumpkin made it seem as if it were a miracle, but I wanted more advice. I feel bad that you did research that I could have done (thanks for the tip about scholarly articles). I just wanted some quick opinions because I wanted my puppy to feel better.

    In conclusion anyway, we are back on only kibble as her main diet; so happy that she is better!

    However, the rest of us in the house got the virus that she had...sadly. :( I didn't know it could pass from dog to human that way but a virus is a virus. No, we did not eat pumpkin either. :)
     

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