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Cat and Dog allergies · Cat and dog allergy signs & symptoms · Cat and dog allergy diagnosis · Cat and dog allergy treatment · Cat and dog allergy related articles
Diagnosing Pet Allergies with Laboratory Tests
Laboratory tests can help make the diagnosis of allergies. Some allergy tests look at the serum, the part of the blood that has WBCs and fluid, but no red blood cells. If the serum shows high levels of IgE (immunoglobulin E), it suggests your pet has allergies or has a parasitic infection that is causing an allergy-like response.
RAST Pet Allergy skin test
Another serum test, RAST (radioallergosorbent serum test) identifies reaction to specific antigens, such as food mites, fleas, and pollens. Unfortunately, interpreting the RAST test is difficult because there is no direct correlation between what your pet’s blood reacts to and the degree to which your pet exhibits symptoms. This is because allergies are caused by a complex interaction of many factors, not just the antibodies your pet makes that can be measured in a test. The cost for a RAST test ranges from $200 to $500, depending upon how many antigens are tested.
Intradermal skin tests
Another clinical test for allergies is the intradermal skin test. Like the RAST, intradermal skin tests are expensive and somewhat difficult to interpret. With skin testing, small amounts of the material your pet may be allergic to are injected into a shaved area of the skin. If your pet reacts with increased blood flow and histamine release, there will be a wheal of red, raised, puffy skin around the injection site. As with the RAST test, there is no clear correlation between skin test results and your pet’s reaction to the material in everyday life. These tests are used as indicators of what your pet should avoid, but not as definitive diagnoses.
Food allergy elimination trial
For many pets, one of the best methods of diagnosing allergy is with a food elimination trial. Food elimination trials require pets to eat only special diets, such as Hills zd diet with all the components broken into such small segments they no longer arouse the immune system. After 3-8 weeks on Hills zd, your pet receives one food with its kibble for 3-8 weeks. If no symptoms occur, you know your pet tolerates this food. More foods are added one at a time. The difficulty with food elimination trials is that pets can have nothing else—no treats, bones, chewies, or flavored medications—during the test period.
Others try a home-cooked food elimination trial. With this food elimination trial, your pet eats a protein and a carbohydrate it has not been exposed to before, such as pork and peas or deer and sweet potatoes. For 3-8 weeks your pet eats nothing other than these two ingredients. No supplements, no flavored medications. After this period, one food, such as carrots, is added. Your pet continues on this diet of 3 ingredients for another 3-8 weeks. If your pet remains symptom-free, another food is added, gradually increasing the list of foods your pet can tolerate. Again, the difficulty with home-cooked food elimination trial is that your pet can have nothing else—no treats, bones, chewies, flavored medications—during the test period.
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The articles here were answered by a variety of pharmacists and veterinarians
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