Posted on 03/07/2010 1:32:40 PM PST by blau993
This may seem like a very strange request, but we do have a wonderfully diverse group of folks in FR, so I am hoping somebody knows the answer to a ver perplexing question.
Our 13 year old Labrador Retriever had a serious bout of pancreatitis a few years back. We almost lost him. As a result, he is permanently on an ultra-lean diet. He is fine with it, with one exception. He doesn't get enough fiber, and when he feels fiber-deprived rolls of toilet paper look very inviting to him.
The solution, said our vet, is to give him more fiber, and the best source of that is canned pumpkin. However, for the past month or so, canned pumpkin has been unobtainable in any of the supermarkets in our area (Annapolis, MD). The managers in the supermarkets say they order it, but it never comes. Does anybody have any idea of why there should be a shortage of pumpkin? I am sure most of it is sold around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we have always been able to get it at other times as well. Very strange? We are presently using canned yams, but it is hard to find them preserved in anything but syrup. The syrup wouldn't be good for him, so we have to wash the yams first, which is a pain.
And when you are finished with my pumpkin question -- what is the story with corn tortillas? Can't find them either.
Pumpkin tacos are very popular along the Eastern Shore.
Yes, last years rains and cold temps depleted the pumpkin crop and Thanksgiving wiped out the canned supplies that were in stock. I would suggest getting winter squash of other varieties and baking and pureeing them to add to his dinner.
I remember reading several stories last year about a pumpkin shortage and I even bought several cans of pumpkin before Thanksgiving in fear of them running out. I can’t remember why there was a shortage, but there was one.
0b0z0dummy decided to put them in yer gas tank. Lookit the pump next time ya fill up.
I would think that canned pumpkin is seasonal - they probably don’t keep a big stockpile. (something like those fruitcakes)
I have used green beans - canned - to help with fiber. I make homemade dog food at times.
I don’t have a shortage of corn tortillas here. Athens, TN
You can make them though - Masa Harena - next to the flour in the grocery store and the recipe is on the bag. Need a rolling pin or broom stick.
95% of all pumpkins that are grown for processing (like canned pumpkin) are grown in the Peoria region of Illinois. A couple of years ago, a series of ill-timed rains devastated the pumpkin season leading to a serious shortage of canned pumpkin in the shelves.
+1 on the squash. You can also find it canned near where the pumpkin should be but isn’t :o).
Another idea is microwaving sweet potatos and scooping out the flesh and adding that to his food.
Would he tolerate some metamucil mixed into his food?
Labs are so funny, they’ll eat anything. We used to give ours the empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls to chew when she was a puppy but she just shredded them, never swallowed them.
LQ
There is your answer. autumnraine is hoarding the scarce pumpkin! :)
Yes, you busted me. :)
If they were going to be popular anywhere, the Eastern Shore would have been my first bet.
I had wondered if that might be the reason, but they have been adding ethanol to gasoline for years now, and I wonder why the shortage has happened now. This is very series — a favorite breakfast in our house is a crisp fried corn tortilla topped with ham or Canadian Bacon, a fried egg, salsa and cheese. I make them with flour tortillas now, but it just isn’t the same.
Sorry, but I am the guilty culprit. I fully admit hoarding canned pumpkin.
Last fall I heard about the canned pumpkin shortage and picked up 30 cans worth, because our one dog needs it, though we give it to both.
The thing is, even though some stores didn’t have it, we found some that did. And after wiping the 30 cans off the shelves, with in a week they were fully stocked again...
To add insult to injury, about 3 weeks after that, another store had canned pumpkin on sale for about $.50 a can, instead of the $1.30-$1.40 I’d paid at the time.
Oh, and yes, I did buy more...
Actually starting to run a little low. Thanks for your post, because I thought the canned pumpkin shortage had been averted...
We also give it to both of our Labs. The 11 year old doesn’t need it, but he can’t abide the thought of his brother getting something that he doesn’t get. He is the bigger of the two and started pushing his brother out of the way to get a taste of the pumpkin.
At the holidays there was talk of an upcoming pumpkin shortage. Was in the store this last week, and noticed no canned pumpkin, so its just not in your area.
A damp spell this past year caused the majority of the crop to rot before ripe. Seriously. Here in SE Wisconsin, you could drive by the pumpkin farms and see the orange, but the bottoms were rotted out a month before Halloween in many spots.
#8 has part of the answer. The problem was the wet fall last year. Last year’s crop is still out in the fields. You won’t see any more until next fall, unless you can import some from China.
I agree with doodad, any kind of squash will do. The canned “pumpkin” you buy is actually squash , not pumpkin. If it gets to be too difficult to find you can always go with a fiber powder.
Wouldn’t carrots work just as well?
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