Frequently Asked Questions

Allergy Test FAQ


Allergy Test My Pet® is designed to offer you an easy and affordable tool that will help you get to the bottom of your dog’s food and environmental sensitivities. This is not a test of the true allergens, which are rare. It is a test of the proteins in your dog that will react to the allergens being tested if your dog is sensitive to them. The test will offer you a complete report on everything your dog may be reactive to so you can alter their food or environmental exposure to the items that your dog is reacting to. Please read below for additional information.

Please make sure your dog has not taken any antihistamines at least 10 days prior to testing because it will affect their results.

Please see below for a list of FAQs. We will be adding to this list regularly as we answer more and more of your questions so if you don’t see what you are looking for here please ask us!


Allergy Test

Why should I test my pet for sensitivities? If your pet is suffering from itchy skin, rashes, gas, stomach pain and a host of other skin, stomach and even behavioral issues chances are they have sensitivity to a food or environmental factor. By learning which of these are affecting your dog you can easily change your pet’s diet and keep them away from the products they show sensitivity toward.

Instead of masking your pet’s symptoms with expensive and often unhealthy foods and medicines it is best to get to the bottom of the problem and recognize exactly what is causing the issues and how you can avoid them. Many people find this is best route to ensure the well-being of their pet.

Is this an allergy test? Allergy Test My Pet®, while called an allergy test is in fact not a traditional allergy test. Allergy Test My Pet® was designed to report the food and environmental intolerances your dog is reacting to.

What if my dog still reacts after I have followed all of your recommendations? We believe that if you are able to recognize and remove the allergens causing your pet to react you will see the symptoms decline. In some cases they can even disappear immediately. Please ensure you are keeping your dog away from the products they have shown a reaction to. Sometimes certain foods and supplements are buried deep in the list of ingredients in pet food. Make sure you are aware of these and alter your pet’s diet accordingly.

If your pet has a reaction to common environmental factors including certain types of grass or weeds common to your area there may be little you can do to prevent a reaction. In these cases we recommend working with your vet to find the best way to deal with these sensitivities

When will I receive my report? You will receive a full PDF report within 2 to 3 weeks of us receiving your sample.

How is the test performed? This test uses the proteins found in your dog's sample to measure their sensitivities to around 100 common allergens. We provide a kit that comes with a sample collection device to collect your dog's sample and easy-to-follow instructions to assist you in properly collecting the sample and sending it back to us.

What does the Allergy Test My Pet® Test check for? ATMP is designed to measure the intolerances and sensitivities in your pet using protein measurements. This is recognized as the most accurate way to measure the sensitivities in your pet. There is a lot of research available on allergy tests that utilize similar methods and we encourage you to research them to learn the high efficacy of these types of tests.

What are some of the symptoms of pet sensitivities? Common symptoms that may indicate an intolerance by your pet include: itching and scratching and redness in the skin, including consonant paw chewing and licking; ear itching, redness and soreness; gastrointestinal issues including gas, diarrhea, vomiting, bloating; hair loss and also wheezing. Other symptoms can include altered behaviors including excessive or aggressive behaviors.

Will you be adding more allergens to your database? We are actively working on adding more allergens to our testing algorithms. Please check the table below for the most up-to-date listings.

How do I take the sample? When you order a kit you will be provided with a sample collection device and a full set of instructions for collecting a sample from your dog. You put the included cotton device in your dog’s mouth until the swab indicates enough sample was collected. The sample is then put into a small collection tube. The tube is then placed in the return postage-paid envelope and you need only drop it in the mailbox for processing.

Once we receive your sample you will have a full report within 2 to 3 weeks stating your dog’s reaction to all of the items we test for.

A video showing how to take the sample can be viewed here.

How old should my dog be before I test? While this test can identify sensitivities at any age, a puppy's physiology quickly changes and the sensitivities they have under 6 months of age may completely change as they age. It is recommended that dogs be over 6 months of age to identify specific allergens that may affect them as they grow older.

Why is my dog sensitive to a particular item but not subsets of that item? We get asked this question regularly. Why a dog is sensitive to fish meal but not a particular fish or seafood or why does a dog react to chicken eggs and not chicken? This is because each item on our list is a unique allergen and a dog may react to one and not another. For instance fish meal usually contains fish trimmings from lower quality fish such as Pollock and does not contain Salmon or Tuna. It also has some chemical components used in processing and your dog may be reaching to those. Another example is a reaction to chicken egg and not chicken and this is because there is a difference in the proteins of each.

Why did my dog react to a novel item? From time-to-time we see a reaction to a particular item a dog has not come into contact with before. This reaction normally occurs because the dog has come in contact with the item but the owner is not aware. It may be a lesser ingredient in a dog food or treat currently fed or something fed in the past.

I am having trouble getting a sample from my small dog. Sometimes our sample collection device can be very challenging for smaller dogs. You don’t have to get the sample all at once and you can keep trying. Please make sure when you do put your dog’s sample in the tube you see at least some of the sample come through. Giving the dog water before may help.

I am not able to get the red dot to appear on my sample. If you think you have taken enough of a sample and you are not seeing the red dot on the collection device you can try and push through what you have collected into the extra collection tube. If you see some come through chances are there is enough there for us to be able to get you a good result.

Can my dog eat before I collect the sample? No, your dog should not be fed before taking a sample as this may affect the results. We recommend taking a sample first thing in the morning before they eat. If this is not possible we recommend waiting the longest possible period of time between meals to collect your sample.

Is it ok if my dog is on medication when I collect my sample? There are a number of medications that will affect your results and these include antihistamines and steroid drugs. If your dog is taking any of these please don’t collect a sample until they have been off them for 48 hours or more.

Is there any research supporting this type of testing? There are numerous types of studies that support this type of testing and we encourage you to research them to get a full understanding of how the protein measurement of the sample you collect can accurately measure the sensitivities in your dog. We will be posting our own published findings here shortly.

Allergens covered in our test.
Please check back as new items are being added.
Almond Oil Ants Apple
Banana Barley Bean Curd
Beef Beet Beetroot
Blackberry Blueberry Bok Choy
Brewer's Rice Broccoli Brown Rice
Brussels Sprout Buckwheat Buffalo/Bison
Cabbage Canola Oil Carrot
Cauliflower Celery Cheese
Chick Pea Chicken Chicken Egg
Cockroach Coconut Cod
Cod Liver Oil Collard Greens Corn
Corn Syrup Cottonseed Oil Cranberry
Cucumber Dairy Duck
Duck Egg Dust Mites or Dust Feathers
Fish Meal Fish Stock Flaxseed Oil
Fleas Gelatin Glucosamine
Goat's Milk Grains (Bread) Grass
Grean Beans Green Lipped Mussel Green Peas
Halibut House Fly Kale
Flatspine Bur Ragweed Kidney Beans Lamb
Lecithin Lemon Lima Beans
Limonene Mackerel Mango
Molasses Mosquito Moths
Mold (Plant) Navy Beans Oat
Oat Meal Olive Oil Orange
Peach Peanut Butter Pear
Pineapple Pinto Beans Pollen
Pork Potato Propylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether
Pumpkin Rabbit Raspberry
Rice Bran Rosemary Salmon
Sardines Shellfish Sorghum
Soy Spinach Squash
Strawberry Sunflower Oil Sweet Potato
Tapioca Tempeh Tobacco
Tomato Turkey Turnip
Vegetable Oil Watermelon Wheat
Whey White Rice Yam
Yogurt Yucca Zucchini
Sage Honey Western Ragweed
Fungus (Household) Fungus (Plant) Millet
Quinoa Trout Yellow Peas

DISCOVER!

  • Your dog’s unique intolerances and sensitivities for around 100 factors.
  • The common household and environmental factors affecting your pet’s wellbeing.
  • Which foods you should avoid — and which may be safe — in your pet’s diet.
  • Food and environmental allergens to keep an eye on.
  • Plus, much, much more!

YOUR RESULTS INCLUDE:

  • A custom analysis of around 100 food and environmental items that your pet may have sensitivities to.
  • A list of foods and household products you should avoid including laundry and cleaning products, tobacco and other household items.
  • PLUS so much more!
DAllergy Test My Pet