# Pumpkin seeds?



## AlphaRanger15

So I was reading on the 'net pumpkin seeds can be given to your bunnies...



Anyone try/do this? Any luck/bad luck?



Ideas???







Andy


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## Amy27

I don't know the answer to this. But hopefully bumping it up, someone who knows or has done it will respond. Sorry you haven't received a response already.


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## Flick

Raw, unshelled pumpkin seeds are very good for your rabbits, especially if the rabbit has calcium issues. It is thought that the pumpkin seeds will help flush out excess calcium through the urine. So, don't be surprised if their urine turns white for a day or so. That's the excess calcium being flushed out of the system. I give all my rabbits about a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds every night. They LOVE them!


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## Amy27

Flick, I am really curious about your response. I have a bun with chronic calcium issues and is on lasix to help flush the bladder. Do you know what is in pumpkin seeds that help flush out excess calcium?


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## Runestonez

I would like to know as well.

The info I am finding lists pumpkin seeds as high in Calcium.



> Pumpkin seed is a high source of vitamin A, calcium and iron, containing small amounts of protein, B1, B2 and B3.


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## Flick

A friend of mine who is a bunny-lover as well as a certified master herbalist recommended the pumpkin seeds. She said that they help with flushing calcium out of the system. I have no idea what is in them that would do this. I'm just taking her word for it. 

Another friend's bunny was experiencing sludge and had to undergo bladder flushing every few months. She started giving him pumpkin seeds and he was able to go 2 years without needing another bladder flush. She thinks that the pumpkin seeds helped him alot. 

I have a veterinarian friend who is very experienced with rabbits and he maintains that the intake of foods high in calcium has no effect on whether or not the rabbit develops sludge. It's more a matter of how well the rabbit's digestive system deals with calcium, not the amount of calcium. Nonetheless, if I had a rabbit with calcium issues, I would delete as much of the high-calcium foods from the diet as I could.

So, really, all I have to offer is what other, more knowledgable people, have told me.


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## Runestonez

I am in training to become a licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator...
I contacted one of our nutritionists to double check with her on the pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin seeds are in the same catagory as spinach and kale...high in calcium but also high in phospherous...which means oxalates. Oxalates block the bodies ability to absorb calcium...so the excess calcium in the foods is flushed, from the system or rather is never absorbed. That would be the white in the urine.

Excessive oxalates turn dietary calcium into crystals in the gut, which can then form stones in the urinary tract.

We have to watch this in our rehab squirrels as they require high levels of calcium to prevent metabolic bone disease. So we need maximum absorbtion!

Some bunns are more sensitive to calcium than others..we have a calcium sensitive bunn...so we are very careful to monitor her calciumhos ratio and when we see white urine we adjust her diet accordingly. She is 6 now and we haven't had any issues in over 4 years <knocking on wood>.

Pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack for bunns...but as with any treat...moderation is key! Too much of anything is never a good idea!


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## Flick

Terrific information, Runestonez! Thank you.


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