We appreciate that not everyone will be aware of the amazing value of kangaroo treats to any dog owner. But that was also the story of salmon and many animals’ species that are plentiful and provide great health outcomes for dogs.
The nutrient benefits are one of the best of all known natural animal’s resources around the globe, but less known is the dental health benefits of the various associated treats. That is what this article is about.
Nutrition wise as a whole kangaroo holds a unique place in the food chain. The meat is called a novel protein, because it isn’t wide enough spread that it has hypo allergic status. So good, that many Australian vets still include this meat as the protein part of exclusion diets to find out what actual foods a specific dog is allergic to.
The meat also happens to be organic (since roos are caught in the wild under strict quota conditions to keep the mob healthy).
Low fat in general throughout their body, means it’s an ideal low-fat food for dogs. And while the total fat content is lower than most meats, the Omega 3 amount (anti-inflammatory) is higher than most land animals.
And all of this before we even look at what dental benefits the kangaroo treats provide !
Summary of kangaroo dental benefits
- Great chewing meat and tendons etc, strengthens jaws
- Natural abrasiveness of the treats helps clean teeth and
- Nutritional content maintaining teeth and gum health
GREAT chewing kangaroo treats.
When people think of great chewing, they often consider highly processed and ingredient inappropriate commercially pressed ‘dental sticks”.
Dog owners that are aware of the domestic dog’s digestive tract being carnivore based, are also very aware that a high meat content (non-diluted) is always the healthiest option for their dog.
But not everyone realises that Kangaroo jerky is one of the toughest meat jerky options (that is also low fat and hypo allergenic) that you can buy. There are different cuts of jerky of course, and the best cuts go to the restaurant trade, but the belly cut of roo jerky has similar fat content to those restaurant steaks, and is also single piece (not glued together like grain dental sticks). This provides a NAUTRAL treat, with natural cohesiveness.
That means that your dog (small and medium sized) will have a great primal time occupying them as they chew this most natural of all treats, that also gives them a great high quality protein boost.
What about roo tendons and cartilage?
This is the next level chewing for your dog. It also means a slightly higher price per weight, but since these parts of the roo are so small and you only get two per kangaroo, there is a very limited source of these treats.
If you don’t want your dog getting fat, the consider a low-fat treat, that takes longer to eat, and is as safe as you can get. Tendons are slightly harder than the hardest roo jerky and so your dog typically will take longer to eat the same amount of weight of treat. The extra hardness also means that they will put more effort into chewing, and strength their gums and jaw.
What is the perfect pairing nutritional or functional treat for roo dog treats?
Kangaroo dog treats has so much going for it, that you could easily exclusively feed your dog this as its main dog treat category. But what about joint support?
The only thing that kangaroo mightn’t provide can be covered by shark cartilage sticks. This is because while shark cartilage sticks can be a great dental chew like many roo dog treats, shark cartilage is one of the greatest universal pro-active joint support medications.
Kangaroo’s Omega 3 anti-inflammatory properties will help reduce the pain of joint inflammation pushing on nerves causing pain in your dog (or human) similar to shark cartilage glucosamine. BUT shark cartilage also includes a large dose of Chondroitin. This NATURAL chemical not only helps strengthen the ligaments around the knees and other joints in your dog, but helps make the liquid between joint bones more viscous also reducing grinding.
Natural GOOD abrasiveness of roo treats
We have already discussed how a harder roo jerky can take longer to chew and enhances the experience, the accomplishment your dog feels doing a very natural and primal activity.
But the WHOLE treat, single ingredient, also means that it can work like floss or a tooth brush in cleaning the surface of the teeth. That texture means an enhanced ability to remove plaque and limit the amount of tartar on the tooth surface. It wont completely prevent that, only daily brushing of a dogs teeth has a chance to do that, but as many human teeth still get plaque buildup with twice daily brushing, you should understand that treats are part of the solution, not a full guarantee.
Here comes the controversial part of this article. Kangaroo bones.
If you are finding that jerky and fake plant treats are not doing a sufficient job of cleaning teeth, then kangaroo bones definitely have a great place in your teeth cleaning arsenal.
When we talk bones, most people think of clod bones, or the leg bone of any animal that is turned into a treat. While this can be great, the roo clod bone is one of the toughest bones of any animal. That is because it is a while animal that travels long distances each day, and at high speed puts a lot of stress on its legs and tail.
That said, perhaps the kangaroo clod bone is exactly what you need? Consult your vet first, but for a small or medium sized dog (that doesn’t have super powerful jaws) there is very little chance of them breaking these leg bones open, so the risk of the bone splintering and causing a risk is very low.
That is why many people instead choose the second hardest option – one of the parts of the kangaroo tail. The tip of the roo tail actually isn’t that different to chicken neck segments, and so a dog can both break the tail into the smaller segments and when eating them, get all the benefits of eating skin, meat and bone.
Roo tail pieces (further up the tail) or even roo lumbar (looks like lamb’s necks) – are the ultimate teeth cleaner, better than any fake veggie ‘dental stick’.
Slightly smaller diameter, but longer than roo tail tip bones, is the roo ribs. Depending on the size or roo harvested, you will often find the individual roo ribs to be a great teeth cleaner, that a dog can safely snap, chew and digest.
While bigger chewing dogs will appreciate full rib cage treats where they can chew through several of the ribs in one crunch. Not only will the dog then get the meat between the ribs, clean the teeth with the rib bone scraping off debris from the teeth, but they will also get the lush reward of kangaroo bone marrow.
