Winter squash anyone?

[stacydc83]

So last time I was at Pet Valu, the cashier tried selling me Primal "winter squash" for cats and dogs. At first I was like nah no thanks. But I got to thinking about it. I already give Lily pumpkin a few times a week, sometimes just pumpkin, and sometimes mixed with EZ Egg Yolk. Maybe this would be better? It's toted as great for digestion, and has added ingredients to help with digestion, prebiotics/etc. Would this be a good thing to try? it comes in a fairly big container, frozen, so I'm thinking I'd have to portion some out, thaw it, microwave it, then give it to her. Does the "probiotics" stay good even after being microwaved?

 

[Azazel]

I would assume that it plays the same role as pumpkin - it adds a little bit of soluble fiber to the diet to feed the gut bacteria in place of the cartilage and fur that cats would consume in the wild. I don't think it will have any advantages over the pumpkin you're already feeding.

As for Primal selling it - they're capitalizing on the common misconception that you should never feed your pets "human" food and that they should only eat 'pet' labelled food. When, in fact, you can save money and probably even buy better quality plain canned squash from the human grocery store. The trick is finding it without any additives.

 

[stacydc83]

Thanks! I will just continue to get canned pumpkin then. I was almost sold on the "health benefits" of it. Plus I don't know if its thick, and its gotta be thick, since Lily doesn't "eat" pumpkin. I have to get it on my finger and stick it in her mouth.

 

[daftcat75]

Yeah that.

There's nothing wrong with winter squash vs pumpkin. Maybe nothing better either though.

Enzymes and probiotics can often be hit or miss. You'll know if it's making matters worse. Start slow and don't be surprised or stubborn if it doesn't work out.

 

[fionasmom]

Microwaves will kill most probiotics, so I think you are on the right track to stick with the pumpkin.

 

[daftcat75]

Didn't even notice the part about microwave. Never microwave probiotics (or any raw food if you want it to remain raw.)

The best way to thaw something like that (or any frozen food you want to remain raw) would be to run it under cold water just long enough to be able to get a knife into it without hurting yourself (10 minutes, give or take) but still remain very much frozen. Then carve it up in a baking dish and portion it into ice cube trays or flat into baggies. To thaw and serve, you can remove the next day's ice cubes to the fridge the night before (or the evening's cubes in the morning), and then run the fridge-thawed ice cube in a separate baggie under luke warm water until no cold bits remain. Or can remove your ice cube from the freezer to a baggie and thaw under luke warm water at serving time. This takes longer but it works if you forgot to remove them from freezer to fridge earlier. Luke warm water is cooler than you like your bath water.