Can kangaroo dog treats help with dog allergies?

Recently I received this question from a prospective customer:  “My dog has itching allergies and I’m looking for a treat that is healthy and long lasting. Are Kangaroo treats the best way to go?”

This is a common question because there is a lot of misinformation about dog food allergies on the internet. It turns out that food allergies are one of the more rare forms of dog allergy tends to be food allergies.

My own dog has a lot of skin allergies that are environmental and taken care of by extra doses of Omega 3 fish capsules.  These work for many dogs, but not all.  And while dogs that are susceptible to some skin allergies can be more likely to be sensitive to other common allergens, it still doesn’t automatically mean that a dog will be allergic to a particular food.

The allergy in dog food allergies is caused by a dogs body over reaction to the protein in a food.  It believes the protein is a threat, like pollen, and swelling and itching on the skin can be a result.

The true DOG FOOD ALLERGY TEST is usually organised by a vet and involves an ‘exclusion diet’ set up by your vet.  Six to eight weeks of diet ONLY on several foods, to ensure that its the food and not other issues causing the itching.  You cant sneak your dog any other food or treats during this time.  The vet will then assess the results with you – if the inflammation has reduced significantly.

‘Exclusion diets’ often include kangaroo as a ‘novel’ food source, but can also include fish. The meat part of the diet (often an expensive pellet diet) also includes carbs like a potato. Basically, meats and their proteins that your dog has not been exposed to are given to your dog and are least likely to cause allergies.  A reduction in allergies over this ‘exclusion trial’ period would suggest that there was something in their previous food that was causing the allergy.

Note, unless a meat treat is 100% of that type (ie 100% beef etc), they can include other ingredients that ‘might’ cause an allergy with your dog. That is, most of our blackdog range that are 80% meat may include chicken  and 15% wheat.  As well as some additives etc.  The additives and colours RARELY cause a major dog allergy reaction, that is usually the Meat or carb protein’s fault (IF it is a food allergy).

If you want to reduce the odds of an allergy reaction by using kangaroo or fish, try our 100%  products like roo jerky, roo tendons, roo bones, or ANY of the fish products.

NOTE if you still want to feed your dog treats, during an exclusion diet.  If your dog is on a kangaroo and potato hypo allergy diet, they can be given 100% Kangaroo treats without it affecting the trial outcome negatively.