Yes, your furry buddy can consume pumpkins too. In addition to its high amounts of fiber, it’s also high in calcium, water, iron, and antioxidants that are safe and good for your pets to consume. If you still have not tried feeding a pumpkin to your pet, reading this short article will interest you. So let’s talk about the benefits pumpkin has to offer for pets.

Why You Must Feed Pumpkin to Your Pet

Pumpkin may be a superfood for canines, and regularly including it in their diet has many awesome health benefits. Below are five reasons to feed pumpkins to your dog.

1. Good for the eyes

Vitamin A is vital for our eye health and is also the same for canines. Vitamin A can keep your eyes healthy and slow the development of eye degeneration and blindness. The said nutrient is also fat-soluble, so making a pumpkin puree for your furry companion and including a little healthy oil will make it more nutritious.

Pumpkin is an excellent way to improve your pet’s eye health. Moreover, this will help you in the long term and save you the hassle of taking your pet to animal surgeons for ocular surgery should your furry friend develop eye conditions.

2. Packs great nutrition

While the nutritional info of one cup of cooked pumpkin is low in calories, it’s rich in important minerals and vitamins. It is rich in vitamin A (beta-carotene), which is great for maintaining eyesight and protecting against infections and illness. Moreover, it has a lot of potassium to help regulate blood pressure and enhance metabolism and muscle health. It also contains small amounts of healthy nutrients like Vitamin C, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, and Folate.

3. Tastes delicious

Like how many people relish pumpkin’s natural and creamy taste, dogs do too. Anyone who has tried feeding their dog healthy yet tasty foods can appreciate and benefit from this. While many dogs would munch on a plain cooked pumpkin, it will become a more delicious treat when added with a pinch of honey or cinnamon.

Apart from pumpkin, you can still search for healthy and pet-friendly veggies to feed your furry friend. However, never forget to maintain their oral health. Be proactive in taking them to pet dentists for oral care and teeth cleaning, and know if your pet needs to have cat dental surgery for their hurting teeth to relieve them from discomfort.

4. Helps control and repel parasites

While most of this evidence is anecdotal, routinely including pumpkin in your pet’s diet can help eliminate parasites inhabiting and disturbing your poor pup’s gut. Parasites like hookworms, tapeworms, and whipworms can significantly affect your dog’s digestive system and trigger undesirable symptoms like a shabby coat, weight loss, dry skin, and nutrient deficiency.

Pumpkin contains a high amount of amino acid cucurbitacin, which is poisonous to canine intestinal parasites and has been thoroughly utilized to expel worms living in animals. However, incorporating pumpkin into your pet’s diet does not automatically mean you’ll stop their parasite preventive medications. Therefore, maintaining up-to-date vaccinations and mites prevention treatments is still advised even when including pumpkins in their diet.

You may browse the home page of vets near you to learn more about the common vet care your pet will need to ensure their good health.

5. Supports urinary health

Pumpkin flesh and seeds contain important oils that promote urinary health. Dogs with issues in their urinary health can see immediate improvements after the pumpkin is added to their diet.