Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Constipation for Pumpkin

5 star (25)		89%
3 star (2)		7%
1 star (1)		4%

GertJr (Madison) on 05/04/2021:
3 out of 5 stars

My cat gets constipated. She will not eat pumpkin and other suggestions for dealing with this condition, so I have had her on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal food. This works great and she is actually, finally, losing some weight. The problem? This food is now out of stock everywhere! So, does anyone have a recipe for food for a cat that includes plenty of psyllium that she'll actually eat? Or know of another brand that works well? I've got her on urinary/hairball food now that says it greases the skids, so to say. But she goes outside and I don't see her poops anymore, I just see that she's 'wider' than before, so I know she's backing up. I do feel that losing weight will help with transit issues, but we have to get there first to know.

Any suggestions? so far, she won't eat any wet/canned food, only the dry. She'll eat some yogurt, but dairy isn't good for her. I'm putting miralax in her water, but who knows how much she's actually getting. Thanks

Susanne (Springfield, Illinois) on 11/11/2019:
5 out of 5 stars

Pumpkin for constipation works wonders in my cat. I buy it by the can and freeze it in ice cube trays. Yadi begs for it every day and dances around meowing until I get it thawed out. He knows the word pumpkin. AND it works! His stools are larger and softer now yet not runny. Finally I am seeing "normal" stools.

Minpig (Ontario) on 04/27/2016:
5 out of 5 stars

Saw the remedy using pumpkin and I wanna tried .... look at the result! Picture says it all!!! We have our chihuahua some canned pumpkin, took him out to poop and within an hour the big lump was gone!!!

Stephanie (Oregon) on 02/28/2016:
5 out of 5 stars

Our poor old, ancient cat was so constipated, he only passed concrete hard poops, a couple of times per week. He is on kidney K D special canned cat food. He ate very little.

I thought one day how unappetizing the cold food was coming out of the fridge so started adding about 50% very hot water and smashing with a fork, I also gave him about 1 level teaspoonful of plain canned pumpkin to a 1/4 can of food. This makes almost a gravy consistency. He just laps it up (has also lost some teeth). He is now eating this 4-5 times per day, and pooping normal, soft poops every day. It took several days to get the hard stuff passed so don't be surprised if you don't get instant results. I also gave only 1/2 teas. pumpkin to start as I didn't want to cause major gas, tummy ache, etc. He seems to be much more active and eating regularly, comes running when he sees his dish. Poor old guy!!!

Wendy (Columbus, Oh) on 07/16/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

Yes, start mixing a tablespoon of pure pumpkin into his food each time you feed him. This is PURE, canned pumpkin, NOT the pumpkin-pie filling which contains sugar.

I regularly add pumpkin to my dog's food each day, and his stools are perfect.

View Entire Thread

Happy (Somerset, Nj) on 02/23/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I never reply to these, but wanted to say thanks! This worked great for my dog.

View Entire Thread

Lisa (Harrison, Oh) on 10/20/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

Our Havanese 8 month old puppy was constipated and hadn't gone for 1 ½ days. He had been out walking around the yard extensively but no luck. My daughter stumbled across your website and she had told me pumpkin and I didn't believe her! I had to put my glasses on just to see it for myself!! Luckily last night I happened to make a pumpkin cake and had leftover pumpkin. Within two minutes of licking up a generous teaspoon of pumpkin, he went straight to the laundry room where he rings his bell to go to the bathroom!! It works like magic... Unbelievable!! Thanks so much!!

Kay (Columbia City, Indiana) on 10/15/2011:
1 out of 5 stars

My cat seems to be okay. He is eating and drinking more. He did not like the essaic tea, so I am trying the organic cottage cheese and flax seed oil. The problem is his bowel movement, I have tried the pumpkin for three days and nothing. The vet thinks he is still to weak for a digging out. I don't know what to do, there has to be something else I can try.

July 1955 (Wildomar, California) on 08/25/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

My cat suddenly became lethargic and the vet discovered he was badly constipated. Over 2 days the vet gave him 5 enemas and sent him home suggesting pumpkin or a hairball remedy. He hated the hairball stuff so we got some canned pure pumpkin and two days later the cat passed a stool with a piece of plastic wadded up inside it -- that piece that pops out to make the handle in a plastic grocery bag. Poor Boo lost a lot of weight and was very reluctant to eat. We gave him a kitty milk supplement and some canned food but for several days he would only take the milk and lick the gravy off the food. We forced him to eat the pumpkin at first but then he started to like it! It has been several weeks now and we've discovered he gets constipated again if we stop the pumpkin. I assume his intestine is irritated. He's gaining weight now so we keep giving him the pumpkin mixed in his food. One bonus -- our other cat won't eat the food that has the pumpkin mixed in!

Blackkat (San Mateo, Ca) on 08/14/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

Thank you for this great site! I've use ACV for my cat's UTI the past year and so far so good! But, just these past few days, I noticed my cat did not produce a BM. He had soft, watery stool 4-5 days ago and didnt have a BM for 2 days after. I am very strict in what I feed him, so I did some investigating around the house. Turns out, he was munching on the tips of the leaves of an indoor Palm Tree--6 blade tips to be exact! I believe that this was the reason why he wasn't producing a BM. I was worried that it could also be hair balls blocking him since he is a long haired cat. In any event, because of his watery stool, I decided to boil some organic chicken in filtered water to make some broth for him. I also plain/dry roasted a chicken breast for him as well, hoping that this would calm his tummy troubles. I gave this to him for 1. 5 days. Last night, I started to add his wet food in with the chicken broth and shredded chicken breast meat. BUT I started to worry because he didnt have a and no BM! He normally produces a BM every day! HUGE concern! The vet isn't open on the weekends, so I was desperate to find a holistic solution to "make" him have a BM. My cat did not show any signs of constipation, but not producing a BM for 2 days going on 3 was not a good sign to me.

I read on this site to give 1 tablespoon of pumpkin to my cat for constipation. I went to Whole Foods and bought a can of organic pumpkin and went home to make his breakfast for him. He was running to the front door to greet me and to tell me he was starving! I put 1 tablespoon of pumpkin (to help him pass his BM), 1 tablespoon of his canned cat food (High quality-grain free poultry diet), 2 tablespoons of boiled filtered water (to add more liquid in his system in case he was dehydrated), 1/4 teaspoon of ACV (to make sure he continued to produce urine and keep his UTI at bay) and 1/2 capsule of fish oil (for his skin, coat and hairballs) in his bowl. At first he backed away from his bowl, then he wanted to "bury" the bowl before walking away altogether. Finally, because he was so darn hungry (He's a 16 pound cat), he had no choice but to eat it. He got at least half of the meal down before walking away. During the day I made sure to exercise and play with him as well as rubbing his tummy in hopes of getting things moving in his intestines. For lunch, I gave him the same thing and he again only ate half of it. Dinner, I backed off the pumpkin and fed him again. I was considering the fact that I would have to take him to the emergency vet hospital the next day. Then, at the stroke of midnight, he walked into his litter box and produced a BIG, firm, perfectly formed, stinky BM! And, yes, I did see the Palm blades in his stool! 15 hours after I gave him the pumpkin did it finally work! I gave him lots of praises and loving after he left his litter box, as well as a midnight snack! Thanks again for this great site! It's helped my cat's health as well as my sanity and pocketbook!

2 3

Return to Constipation