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So I used to be in the camp that believed that absolutely no plant-based fiber is best for cats until about yesterday...
After one of my cats didn't poop for 3 days on a homemade raw diet with no carbs, I started to add a teaspoon of pumpkin to their daily meals. They are all regular now (going once a day) and I haven't had an issue since.
My vet, who likes that I feed homemade raw, strongly encouraged me to add daily pumpkin to their meals. She basically believes that the pumpkin is good for their gut bacteria because it acts as a prebiotic and that some cats will become constipated without any source of fiber in their diet - not because they need fiber for nutrition but because they need it to build healthy gut bacteria. This being said, she thinks it should be a very very small amount, something to mimic the tiny amounts of plant-based fiber they would eat in the stomach contents of their prey or the grass they would chew if they were outside.
I honestly disagreed with her for the longest time, but I'm starting to agree with her now. What are everyone's thoughts, and do you add a fiber source to your cat's food? I should also mention that I contemplated adding psyllium husk to the batches that I make, but my vet encouraged me to use pumpkin instead because she said it acts more as a prebiotic to encourage ongoing healthy gut bacteria whereas psyllium is more like a laxative.
After one of my cats didn't poop for 3 days on a homemade raw diet with no carbs, I started to add a teaspoon of pumpkin to their daily meals. They are all regular now (going once a day) and I haven't had an issue since.
My vet, who likes that I feed homemade raw, strongly encouraged me to add daily pumpkin to their meals. She basically believes that the pumpkin is good for their gut bacteria because it acts as a prebiotic and that some cats will become constipated without any source of fiber in their diet - not because they need fiber for nutrition but because they need it to build healthy gut bacteria. This being said, she thinks it should be a very very small amount, something to mimic the tiny amounts of plant-based fiber they would eat in the stomach contents of their prey or the grass they would chew if they were outside.
I honestly disagreed with her for the longest time, but I'm starting to agree with her now. What are everyone's thoughts, and do you add a fiber source to your cat's food? I should also mention that I contemplated adding psyllium husk to the batches that I make, but my vet encouraged me to use pumpkin instead because she said it acts more as a prebiotic to encourage ongoing healthy gut bacteria whereas psyllium is more like a laxative.