Our allergy testing is done by looking at your pet’s immune response to particular environmental allergens. There is no accurate food allergy testing available in veterinary medicine which means our tests looks for environmental allergens only. There are 2 ways to perform allergy testing:
Intradermal skin test: in some ways the most accurate test. This test is done under light sedation, followed by the injection of over 50 different allergens in between the layers of the skin (intradermal). The allergens that are causing reactions (wheals- or large bumps) are the ones we identify as triggers for your pet.
Serum allergy test: This is less invasive than the skin test. It is very important this test be done at the right time for each pet – if the test is run at the wrong time it may be negative despite the patient being allergic. This blood is taken in-clinic and the test is done at an outside lab. As this test can be more expensive, we advise that you speak with a veterinary dermatologist beforehand.