Roo Elimination Diet

[Stitch]

My old girl has started to be an itchy dog...at 11yo it is unusual according to the dermo vet.

He wants her on cooked roo + veges. I forgot to ask him if it could be raw instead of cooked in the form of a stew?

Also, she has been on RC Hypoallergenic because she also has IBD (which he feels is related).

I am wondering if I should move her gradually over to the roo stew or just feed it to her in its place?

Obviously I was too busy thinking of other things in the consult and forgot to ask these two important questions.

I am sure someone here will know??

Edited September 21, 2013 by Stitch

[Stitch]

Anyone???

[shirra]

I'd recommend phoning the specialist vet.

[Stitch]

Yep, me too however he doesn't work weekends and he moves around to various clinics during the week so he is difficult to talk to. Looks like I will have to leave a message and hope he gets back to me quickly.

[persephone]

I guess most people would say 'cooked' as there are those who dislike feeding raw , and enjoy doing 'home cooked' meals for their furries ?

I would feed raw, as the smell of stewing roo makes me want to ....

[trinabean]

I have done a roo and sweet potato elimination diet in the past. I used raw roo, as the vet said it didn't matter either way with the meat. Like Persephone said, the smell of roo cooking put me off. And the dog was happy enough with it raw.

Just a thought, is your derm vet happy for you to email him questions? Mine is, and often there is a question that arises in between appointments that needs clarification. Good luck with your itchy dog.

[LisaCC]

I did a roo elimination diet with my old boy and his HAD to be cooked. Something to do with the allergens and digestibility. Double check with your specialist.

[trinabean]

That's interesting LisaCC. Yes, probably best to check with the specialist then.

[Stitch]

Thanks for your replies.

I have fed roo in the past but it was pet quality roo meat and I agree it stank!!!

This time I bought human grade roo meat and there was a BIG difference. It didn't smell too bad at all...so I will be totally avoiding the pet grade roo meat! I mean it is only $3 a kg extra to buy human grade roo meat!

Specialist vet said to be careful when I bought the roo as some, especially the pet grade stuff has sulphur dioxide in it to preserve it....and he was right. I scrutinised the packs and there it is in tiny print ie. preservative.

I have to add thiamine to the roo meat. Vet said if I use meat that has been preserved ie with sulphur dioxide then you can't put thiamine in it at the same time. I would have to dose her with thiamine 4 hours before or after. Interesting!!

The human grade roo has salt added to it, no other preservative.

I have started to feed her a little of the cooked roo with veges today but I will phone him tomorrow to check.

Edited September 22, 2013 by Stitch

[persephone]

The roo I cook sometimes is human grade ... I cannot stand it . Mind you .. different types of kangaroo smell different! the reds are the nicest to eat .. if one does that sort of thing ....their meat has not much smell. The greys ..well.... Does, too, smell a lot less than a big ol' man buck ...full of testosterone & adrenaline ...

same as pork or anything ... but more noticeable ;)

[julesluvscavs]

Our almost year young Cavalier has been getting raw roo mince mixed with raw veges as part of her diet (She doesn't get it every day), shes been doing fine on it but doesn't have huge amounts of it. No issues having it *touch wood* I buy it from our butchers and tell them its for my puppy, so Im not sure what grade it is.

Ps Im a vego so I usually get my husband to mix her raw food up into rations, cant say its been overly smelly even when i put it into her bowl.

Edited September 22, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

The roo I cook is human grade too and it smells awful, but I prefer it to having to cut up chicken etc. At least with roo (mince) I don't have to handle it. I'm on the brink of going back to being a vego. Meat is really grossing me out me lately.

And I didn't know that they added sodium to it... I just had a look at the packet and they do. What a bummer - my Pug is supposed to be on a salt-free diet. I might email them and ask if their diced roo meat contains sodium. I buy the Macro Meats brand.

Edited September 22, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[Stitch]

They have to preserve meat etc. that isn't going to be eaten immediately with something.

Some can have adverse affects on health if not used within the regulated limits; in particular:

•nitrates & nitrites in meat can be converted in the stomach or during high temperature frying to chemicals understood to cause cancer

•sulphur dioxide exposure causes breathing difficulties in some people

•some uses of preservatives are incompatible with other manufacturing processes.

In general, preservatives are used to maintain food safety and prolong product shelf life.

Sodium nitrite or potassium nitrite play a key role in the safety of processed meats.

Nitrites... in slow cured meats, sodium or potassium nitrates which are gradually converted to nitrites...are the key ingredients in meat cures. They provide protection against botulism in processed meats. They help give cured meats their characteristic colour and flavour.

Other preservatives inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The sulphites - sources of sulphur dioxide - also inhibit the growth of microorganisms while retaining the bloom of red meat.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

I wonder if they could use potassium chloride as a preservative... That's what oncologists recommend for dogs who have/are recovering from cancer*. It gives a salty flavour to food without adding any sodium. I must email my naturopath and ask her about it.

*They recommend it because some dogs don't like the bland taste of natural food after being fed a commercial diet.

Edited September 22, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[Stitch]

So far so good with the new diet.

The dermo vet actually phoned me yesterday (good follow up service) and asked if I had any questions.

So I asked about the raw v's cooked and the answer was as I expected, that cooked is easier to digest which is what I want at the moment. Also seeing as the roo diet has very little fat in it, it was OK to just switch onto it...which is what I did anyway.

An interesting fact I have discovered whilst doing this exercise is that all the raw pet grade kangaroo meat I have looked at is preserved with sulphur dioxide BUT they highlight on some brands that it has added Thiamine.

What they don't seem to realise is that sulphur dioxide kills ALL thiamine that it is mixed with!!

Which is why the dermo specialist says to dose the dog with thiamine separately and 4hrs hours before/after feeding the roo meat.

Makes you wonder how much else they have got wrong with their product!!

Edited September 23, 2013 by Stitch

[~Anne~]

I don't feed pet quality meat of any description. Even the chicken mince smells and looks off to me. I only feed human grade meats.

I'm confused as to the description of it being an elimination diet though if your dog has already been fed roo in the past? The elimination principle is to feed a protein source the dog has never had before and therefore is unlikely it have developed a reaction to it.

Human meats also sometimes have sulphur dioxide added. I believe it keeps the meat looking fresh and pink/red.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

I got an email reply from the manager at Macro Meats (the company who make kangaroo meat)...

The sodium in their kangaroo mince, diced meat, fillets and steaks is naturally occurring. That's a relief. I was worried that I was overdosing my Pug on salt.

Thank you for contacting Macro Meats with your query. The sodium listed in the nutritional panel on our mince packets is naturally occurring as you will find with any meat. We don’t add it to the mince, diced meat or the fillets and steaks. The marinated products and sausages and burgers do have some sodium added. Kangaroo meat is free from all human intervention meaning they graze in their natural environment and as they are not farmed they are not given any hormones or antibiotics. They are a free living animal just as nature intended.

I hope this information is of assistance to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions.

[Stitch]

That's good to know MF, thank you for getting that info.

Anne, this dog has never had roo before although I have fed some of my other dogs roo BARF and also plain roo meat.

The Big Dog Roo BARF doesn't smell but the plain (and I think it must have been pet grade) roo meat was very stinky...but that is going back a while!

It is probably a good idea not to feed dogs roo meat because if they develop allergies to a protein source like chicken, beef or lamb you will still have the roo to fall back on.

Lamb used to be the one that was fed to dogs with food allergies because it never used to be used by dog food manufacturers...but now they use lamb extensively so that protein source is no longer an alternative.

[~Anne~]

Agree. I used goats meat for any elimination diets we put rescues on. You need to live in the right area though to get easy access to it. I was paying only about $8 a kilo from the butchers.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

My Pug has kangaroo breath. It smells exactly like the meat as it's cooking in the pan. He's been eating kangaroo for a few months now, maybe three? I thought it would go away but it hasn't.