I know from experience that pumpkin will help loosen stool in large doses but can it be used to firm it back up? Kiya has an upset stomach and I was told to give pumpkin. Has anyone had any success with this?
Thanks!
Hmmm…good question...I have never used pumpkin for 'Firming" stool, only for loosening it on the kids winter Raw diets (Charlie refuses to eat Raw durring the summer, I have never figgured it out). But when I have had issues with Charie and loose stool I have switched him to a chicken and brown rice diet for a bit....usualy with a little extra bonemeal to firm things up.
If she has a tummy upset, the best thing is to withhold food for 24 hours and let the tummy calm down… then give her boil chicken (or boil ground turkey and/or chicken) and rice (brown is best) for a couple days.
I had been told that pumpkin can help firm up poop. But when Ruby was sick last winter, I withheld food 24 hours and then on suggestion added a very small amount of pumpkin into her bland diet of brown rice & ground turkey. The vet thought the pumpkin was too much for her because it didn't help firm anything up so I stopped that. Also, Ruby needed white rice instead of brown, because the vet showed me the undigested brown rice in her poop and told me that she would do better with the white.
Never tried pumpkin, but live culture yougurt works for me (my vet suggested it)
I gave pumpkin to kiro for about 6 months. I was told it would help her to express her own anal galnds….. they say it hardens the stools therefore making itpush against her glands...
I cant say if it really helped but it did make it better. i mixed a heaping spoonful in with her food everyday. 
kiro liked it.....
We put both pumpkin and yogurt in the dogs' food all meals. Cory gets a real case of stinky butt and it seems to help. The pumpkin seems to keep their poop a little firmer and they seem to be a little less gassy with the yogurt. I don't know if it really works or if it is my imagination, but they like it.
Pat
We put both pumpkin and yogurt in the dogs' food all meals. Cory gets a real case of stinky butt and it seems to help. The pumpkin seems to keep their poop a little firmer and they seem to be a little less gassy with the yogurt. I don't know if it really works or if it is my imagination, but they like it.
Pat
Pat,
What type of yogurt are you using with the pumpkin?
I just give them Dannon's "All Natural Nonfat Plain". I don't get any fancy organic yogurt but some of the generic store brands seemed to have some additives. I don't like to get the big tub of yogurt because it just gets unappetizing looking after while. But the smaller size lasts for days and I get a bunch when the store has a Dannon's special.
Pat
My boy had the WORST case of bum smell….I was constantly washing blankets and sheets and febreeze-ing the house. It was so bad I even asked my vet if his anal glands could be removed but she said she would only do that if it was necessary due to infection. I started adding a scoop of pumpkin to his dinner and it has definately helped!! Plus, it made him eat his dinner in one go instead of grazing!
Are you using pumpkin in a can?
I often use pumpkin when one of the dogs has a stomach issue and it works well. My vet practices alternative medicine, along with chiropractic treatments, at her clinic. She recommends pumpkin for runny stools. We both believe most dogs are given too many medications when a holistic approach works as well. The only yogurt that has live cultures is Activia or the like. Activa has one unflavored plain yogurt that I give the dogs. Also, every meal the dogs get a prescribed enzyme to alleviate the "stinky butt." I have five very healthy and happy dogs…the oldest is 13...so it appears we are doing something right. Canned pumpkin is great.
BTW, I pet sit and took care of a dog (Bull Mastiff) with kidney failure. The dog was on a low protein diet that consisted of white rice, one hard boiled egg, and pumpkin or sweet potato. She recovered and is doing well.
Canned pumpkin (or mashed sweet potatoes) in small amounts helps thicken stool for anal gland issues according to my vet - in large amounts the opposite occurs. But he also has recommended the meat and rice thing when serious diarrhea occurs.
If she has a tummy upset, the best thing is to withhold food for 24 hours and let the tummy calm down… then give her boil chicken (or boil ground turkey and/or chicken) and rice (brown is best) for a couple days.
Hi there. This is a very timely post for us, because Charlie is having his first bout of diarhhea with us. We are not going to give him dinner tonight, and tomorrow we'd like to try the chicken and rice diet. I'm wondering, though, how much chicken and how much rice? (Charlie is 20 months old and about 28 pounds - he's stockier than a purebred basenji because he's a pug mix.)
Mia got extremely sick, she had diareaha for 3 days straight and at the worst was going every 15 minutes, throwing up and then started having accidents in the house. at the vet she sat down and left a puddle of diareaha. she had no control of her bowels.
we fed her the boiled chicken and brown rice, she wouldnt eat her regular food. then the vet gave science diet id chicken and rice canned food and she ate that too. he said lots of little meals. i fed her about 6 or 7 times a day. only about a 1/4 of a cup at a time, if that. then after a day of being solid again i started slowly mixing her regular food back in, and cutting down the frequency of her meals. she was back to normal in a few days
i would boil one bag of the minute rice brown rice and a package of chicken breast. idk if thats the correct amount but it worked for us. hope it helps!
and mia had the anal gland problem. i call her fish butt. she HATED pumpkin though. wouldn't touch it. she's a picky eater. i used unsweetened canned pumpkin. thats the right kind, right?
Hi there. This is a very timely post for us, because Charlie is having his first bout of diarhhea with us. We are not going to give him dinner tonight, and tomorrow we'd like to try the chicken and rice diet. I'm wondering, though, how much chicken and how much rice? (Charlie is 20 months old and about 28 pounds - he's stockier than a purebred basenji because he's a pug mix.)
White rice when a dog has the runs, unless you use the quick cook brown rice. Brown rice often has too much fiber and doesn't firm up stools.
Lean white chicken meat boiled, remove all traces of fat from stock, and add rice accordingly. The mixture shouldn't be like soup, but the rice should absorb all the chicken broth. I use just enough chicken to flavor the rice. I agree that Charlie should be given a small amount until his tummy settles down. 1/4 to 1/2 cup per meal for about 3 or 4 days. Add a little grated hard boiled egg after a few days of a bland diet, too.
Hope your Charlie is doing better.
Mia got extremely sick, she had diareaha for 3 days straight and at the worst was going every 15 minutes, throwing up and then started having accidents in the house. at the vet she sat down and left a puddle of diareaha. she had no control of her bowels.
we fed her the boiled chicken and brown rice, she wouldnt eat her regular food. then the vet gave science diet id chicken and rice canned food and she ate that too. he said lots of little meals. i fed her about 6 or 7 times a day. only about a 1/4 of a cup at a time, if that. then after a day of being solid again i started slowly mixing her regular food back in, and cutting down the frequency of her meals. she was back to normal in a few days
i would boil one bag of the minute rice brown rice and a package of chicken breast. idk if thats the correct amount but it worked for us. hope it helps!
and mia had the anal gland problem. i call her fish butt. she HATED pumpkin though. wouldn't touch it. she's a picky eater. i used unsweetened canned pumpkin. thats the right kind, right?
Right kind of pumpkin…unless you are making ME a pie!!!!;)
White rice when a dog has the runs, unless you use the quick cook brown rice. Brown rice often has too much fiber and doesn't firm up stools.
Lean white chicken meat boiled, remove all traces of fat from stock, and add rice accordingly. The mixture shouldn't be like soup, but the rice should absorb all the chicken broth. I use just enough chicken to flavor the rice. I agree that Charlie should be given a small amount until his tummy settles down. 1/4 to 1/2 cup per meal for about 3 or 4 days. Add a little grated hard boiled egg after a few days of a bland diet, too.Hope your Charlie is doing better.
When Ruby was sick, her system wouldn't digest brown rice (it was coming out whole in her poop)…the vet told me to switch to white and that did the trick. Also the pumpkin made things worse for Ruby (and I was only using a tiny amount)...so the vet told me to discontinue the pumpkin.
Upon vet recommendation many years ago, I've always used pepto bismol (1/2 to 1 tablet/twice a day) for mild cases of loose stools, and it always helps improve the situation. You do need to keep in mind though that pepto has a little bit of aspirin in it in case of other health issues (I couldn't use it on Max when his kidneys were failing).
Thanks all, for the advice. We fed Charlie a white rice-boiled chicken breast diet for most of last week, and thankfully it seems his systems are back to normal. But… we did have an interesting observation that I wanted to share and get your feedback on.
While he was getting the chicken and rice, Charlie seemed a bit more 'tame' than usual - calmer, more restful, less jumpy. We attributed it to him being hungry and weak from the diarhhea and the low-energy diet.
As soon as we added even a bit of usual kibble back to his meals, we noticed that his usual 'edginess' came back. He's always been a restless, edgy boy - ready for action at any minute - highly attuned to about what's going on, and what it might mean for him - and likely to create some action if he's bored. His crankiness came back too. Anyway, all this made me think that perhaps his kibble is causing some of his restlessness, edginess and crankiness. Is this possible? Or is it more likely that he's just feeling more like his usual basenji self again?
P.S. Charlie's on Canidae chicken and rice kibble. We usually add a spoon of pumpkin.
