Considering Food Allergy Testing for your Dog? Read this first!

Dealing with numerous dogs suffering from food intolerances, I often encounter clients armed with a list of foods deemed safe based on their allergy test results. Regrettably, these results are seldom reliable, causing disappointment for both the dog and its owner's finances. I concur that elimination diets currently represent the most effective approach.

From the reference above:

•Serum and saliva tests showed low sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and likelihood ratios.

•There was no clear difference in the number of positive reactions between allergic and healthy dogs.

•Serum and saliva tests could not be used to confirm or rule out adverse food reactions.

•Elimination diets are the reference standard in the diagnosis of adverse food reactions in dogs.

This study showed that there were positive results from animal hair and saliva of healthy dogs, atopic dogs and samples of synthetic fur and saline!

"Results: Positive test results were provided by the direct-to-consumer pet allergy for all submitted samples, including synthetic fur and saline. The test results for healthy and atopic animal samples were no different from each other or from synthetic fur and saline samples. Reproducibility for paired samples was not different from random chance....Conclusions and clinical importance: The direct-to-consumer hair and saliva test for pet allergies examined in this study performed no better than chance and the results were not reproducible."

If you suspect a food intolerance in your dog, I recommend collaborating with a veterinarian/dermatologist or a seasoned practitioner promptly. Often, dog owners attempt an elimination diet independently, only to face failure and deplete a significant number of novel protein (and carb) choices. Owners may find elimination diets challenging to adhere to, and a well-informed consultant can provide guidance and efficient protocols to enhance the likelihood of success.