Pumpkin is great for kitties and puppies alike who may have health challenges that affect their digestion! Probiotics too. My old lady Sadie (dog) is on antibiotics for at least the next month. You can bet that pumpkin is on the menu everyday in this house. Something to note for those who use yogurt for a probiotic, when our furbabies are on antibiotics, anything with calcium (yogurt) needs to be eaten at a different time than when they take their meds. It can make the antibiotics less effective.
Thanks for sharing. I had forgotten about pumpkin until Sadie's illness came up. It's great info David.
LBF

My cat is 16, has been renal at least 5 years and shows no signs of going anywhere. He has been on Hill's KD, either wet or dry all this time.
I add a spoonful of pumkin to a can of food AND add one of my probiotic capsules as well. I alternate every other feeding: a spoonful of wet, then say a 1/4 cup of dry when he finishes the wet. Back and forth.
Reason? He could no longer seemed to tolerate dry alone (his poop smelt/looked terrible), and wet alone was pricey.
I'm convinced this diet (plus love!) has helped him.

David

Hi David, I am in the same boat. My kitty is 17.5 and was diagnosed with CRF 5.5 years ago. We also use probiotic daily, and I also give it to my healthy young guy, hoping it will keep him healthy longer (I've heard that certain strains of bacteria in the probiotic break down nitrogen compounds in the gut, so they don't make it to the kidneys, thus prolonging kidney function).

That is very interesting about just feeding dry giving him bowel problems. Maybe that explains why my old girl has had fluctuations in her bowel habits from time to time- I've never given the input much thought. Though now she has no teeth, so while she still eats dry food (non-RX, but a high quality on par with KD as far as breakdown), she is more dependent on wet.

You may be right about the diet. I also think my kitty's longevity with this disease is that she's an old crab, and her attitude makes her a fighter :^)