Pumpkin For Cats

As I’m writing this it’s October, which means it’s the time of year when pumpkin everything again appears for a brief and delicious season. It might surprise you to learn that your cat can also join in on the pumpkin fun (without any spices, of course!). It doesn’t really matter when you’re reading this because pumpkin puree is available year around.

Discuss diet changes with your veterinarian

I’m not a veterinarian and I advise you to first do as I myself did, and discuss diet changes with your cat’s veterinarian; follow their guidance about whether to feed pumpkin and the amount. (See Disclaimer.)

Health benefits of pumpkin for cats:

To be clear, cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need a primarily meat diet.

But pumpkin is one of the few vegetables that makes a good healthy cat treat (for cats who like pumpkin). I’ve even found that my fluffy orange kitty will eat shavings of frozen pumpkin puree, which also makes it a cool summer treat.

Cats can benefit from pumpkin puree in several ways:

According to Pet MD author Sandra C. Mitchell, DVM, DABVP (2022):

A Pet MD article by Jennifer Coates, DVM (2020) states:

In a Reader’s Digest article by Cynthia Sanz Carstens, she quotes Leslie Sinn, DVM who says:

Safe pumpkin for cats:

Only plane, cooked, pure 100% pumpkin with no added spices should be fed to cats. Sources for cat safe pumpkin include:

Not all cats like all types of pumpkin

Some cats don’t care for pumpkin at all. But even if your cat walks away from the first type of pumpkin you offer, doesn’t mean you can’t try another. Or try mixing it in food.

My own experience with my fluffy orange kitty is that he doesn’t really care for the pumpkin puree I made from my garden (pie) pumpkins. He’ll eat a little, but seems to lose interest. On the other hand, the can of plain 100% pure pumpkin (no added spices) from the grocery store – that he always finds an exciting and delicious treat. He will lick it right off his spoon.

I don’t know why he prefers one over the other, but possibly it’s the type of pumpkin or the process used to make the puree. I usually buy the Libby’s brand canned pumpkin, and it’s made from their “specific cultivar of pumpkin called Dickinson” (LaCapria, 2016). Could be that my fluffy orange kitty prefers the flavor of these special “Libby Select” strain of Dickinson pumpkins. Or maybe he prefers the taste of steamed (process used for canned pumpkin) versus baked pumpkin (the way I made puree).

I also gave the Weruva brand of puréed pumpkin a try, out of curiosity. This pumpkin is made specifically for dogs and cats, and sold by pet stores. I tried only the pouch that is 100% pumpkin (Weruva also sells pouches of pumpkin mixed with other ingredients). Water for processing is also listed as an ingredient, and the pumpkin was definitely more watery compared to canned pumpkin. Fluffy orange kitty loved the Weruva pumpkin – just as much as or even more than the canned pumpkin I buy at the grocery store.

So Weruva pumpkin pouches are another good option for cats. However, as someone who feeds pumpkin daily to fluffy orange kitty, grocery store cans of pumpkin are a way more economical option for me. But I can see these pouches being an easy way for an owner to check and see if their kitty enjoys pumpkin; or if you’re trying to find a type of pumpkin your kitty will eat. Or for someone who wants to feed pumpkin only periodically.

How to prepare fresh garden pumpkin for cats

*If you missed reading it above, feeding raw pumpkin to cats isn’t recommended because it’s “hard to digest and can result in an obstruction” (Mitchell, 2023). For this reason, pumpkins should first be made into puree.

You don’t have to grow a pumpkin in a garden in order to make your own puree. Grocery stores sell pumpkins in the fall. Just be aware that there are different kinds of pumpkins, and the small pie/sugar pumpkins are more flavorful and preferred for human food compared to the big decorative pumpkins used for carving; cats haven’t commented which they like better.

To make puree via baking:

How to freeze pumpkin puree for cats

This works for any pumpkin puree, whether you made it yourself from fresh pumpkins or opened a can.

I like to buy a can of pure pumpkin from the grocery store and when I open it, I divide and freeze it into usable portions so that it doesn’t go bad in the refrigerator (it should be used in about one week). This is simple and easy to do.

Just use an ice cube tray and spoon pumpkin into it and freeze. Depending on the size of the tray and how full you fill them, will determine the number of pumpkin cubes you get.

After they’re frozen, I remove them from the tray and put them in a plastic bag to store in the freezer. Whenever more is needed, I pull one out of the freezer and keep it in a small plastic container in the refrigerator to feed from daily.

For me, one can of pumpkin makes about 17 cubes, I use about one cube a week, feeding kitty roughly one teaspoon a day. This makes a can of pumpkin puree ($2.22) a very budget friendly, healthy kitty treat. And that makes me glad my fluffy orange kitty likes it so much!

Pumpkin for you too!

You and kitty can share pumpkin (whether you’re using fresh or a can of puree) by dividing it and using some for kitty and some in a delicious recipe for yourself. This works well if you’re testing to see which type of pumpkin your kitty likes, or if you don’t want a bunch left over in the freezer. With that in mind, I just wanted to share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes (for humans only, sorry kitties).