1. Can help with upset stomach, diarrhea and constipation.Veterinarians often instruct owners to give pumpkin to dogs that are suffering from runny stools, diarrhea (once they are back to eating solid foods after a short rest period) and to relieve constipation.
It helps with these conditions due to its soluble fiber. Do keep in mind that too much can have an opposite effect. For GI issues, you’ll only want to add 1 teaspoon for puppies or 2 teaspoons for adults to their bland diet of rice and plain chicken.
2. It can help lessen or stop coprophagia. This refers to when a dog ingests feces, his own or those of another animal (most often another dog or a cat).
While there are a variety of reasons why a dog may eat poop, including stress and a dieting lacking in proper nutrients (and those issues should be addressed), many owners have found that adding a spoonful of pumpkin helps the dog digest his food better and may alter the taste of feces once it is expelled; both of which can help combat coprophagia.
3. Weight issues. Though rare, there are some Poms that are too heavy and for those that do need to lose a few pounds, vets often recommend pumpkin as one method to achieve that. It can help make a dog feel fuller, faster and longer, which can be of help when needing to cut back on calories.
Nutritional values: 1/4 cup of pumpkin has practically no calories: just 8. It also contains beta-carotene (vitamin A), vitamin C, B6, Iron and magnesium. It is a bit high on the glycemic scale (70), but low on glycemic load (3). What’s the difference?
The scale index number does not take into account that servings sizes of fruits and other foods vary. So, the number may be unfairly high. But when looking at the ‘load’, a number based on actual serving size of a particular food, it scores well at just a 3 (under 5 is considered good).
Working pumpkin into a Pomeranian’s diet: We would only recommend giving pumpkin to a Pom if the dog was having intestinal issues (diarrhea, constipation), has already been seen by a reputable veterinarian and has been properly diagnosed.
If this is the case, do ask your vet about adding pumpkin to your Pom’s diet to help him recover after a bout with those issues. For puppies a teaspoon or two and for adults 1 to 2 tablespoons are normally given to help calm the stomach down. You can mix this with plain white breast chicken meat and/or plain white cooked rice.
Also, if your Pomeranian is having a problem with coprophagia, it may be worth trying. One tricky thing about coprophagia is that some dogs respond well to one remedy while it has no effect on others… and a Pom may respond well but then build up a tolerance. So, pumpkin may be worth a try.
