At Home Pet Allergy Assessment #petallergies

I received a free kit in exchange for an honest review.

For years now we have known Jewel had some sort of allergy.  Every fall she would itch constantly, and develop scabs around her neck from itching so much. The vet would give her a steroid shot and she would be so much better within a few days. The vet said we could do allergy testing, but it was very expensive, and it was probably just something associated with our HVAC unit that was triggering it when the heat came on.  After a few years, we moved, and Jewels fall allergy wasn’t nearly as bad.

Jewel also gets feline acne on occasion.  The vet suggested we buy the circle acne pads that are made for very sensitive skin and use them on her face a few times a week.  It seemed to work, but we were never sure what was really causing it.

Lately Jewel has been losing weight but all her blood work and other lab tests came back normal.  We even checked her stool for parasites / infection and that came back completely normal. The vet suggested we try switching her food to a “senior” diet.

We tried 3 different flavors of Science Diet for “Mature” cats and she pretty much refused to eat any of them.  We had tried to give her Friskie’s Senior Lamb and Rice a few months ago, but every time she ate it she would get sick about a half hour later.  So for now we feeding her Regular Friskies – she really likes the beef flavored ones, and anything with cheese in it.  I know Friskies isn’t the most nutritional brand, but she eats it all in one sitting.  We do try to mix in more “premium” brands when they are on sale. She also loves Wellness Complete Kibble which we tried out a while back as part of a review.   Due to our opposite work schedules, Tony feeds the cats wet food before he leaves for work in the morning, and again around dinner time.  I feed the cats a little bit of kibble when I leave for work in the afternoon.

When I got the chance to review ImmuneIQ, for free, I was excited.  ImmuneIQ is a pet immunity assessment that helps pet owners understand their pet’s challenges (like allergies or reactions to toxins like cleaning supplies or gardening chemicals).

Their kit is an at-home administered alternative to the traditional allergy tests given at the vet’s office for around $200-$2000+.  ImmuneIQ evaluates the saliva and a hair sample given to them by the owner. They test for 75 different allergens commonly found it pet food, and in a pets environment.  The kit is pain free, affordable and doesn’t require your vet to help you understand the results.  To be clear, ImmuneIQ is a sensitivity to the system test, not an allergy type 1 reaction test.

The information they send you is not intended to be a substitute for in-person professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your local veterinarian or other qualified health provider in person regarding your pet’s medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking medical attention if you believe your pet is having an allergic reaction or is sick.

I have seen many people complain that it took weeks to get their results back from the lab, but mine took less than a week.  As far as I know, my kit wasn’t marked, or flagged in any way that would have identified me as a blogger.  I even got phone calls from ImmuneIQ to make sure my kit arrived to me, and to see if I had any questions, and then another phone call to let me know when my results were ready to be viewed.

The first thing I noticed on the results, which they send you via, .pdf was that under pets name, it says “Incomplete”. I’m positive I filled in Jewels name, but It honestly, wasn’t a big deal. I only submitted one kit for testing, so I knew it was Jewels results.  They also listed the species as a Dog. I know I checked “Cat” on the form, but maybe it was just a typo at the lab.  My name and the date they received the kit were correct.

I was happy to see that Beef, Chicken and Turkey were in the green column, which means that she was OK to eat those foods. We thought she might have had a chicken allergy.  We were very surprised to see that Herring, Mackerel, White Fish and Salmon were in the Red “NOT OK” list.  Jewel has no issues gobbling up any sort of sea food, and in particular LOVES salmon.

The testing also showed that Brown rice was ok, but she had an overwhelming reaction to white rice.  The Science Diet Lamb and Rice we tried to give her definitely had white rice in it, and like I mentioned before, she vomited soon after eating it.  I checked the Science Diet “Mature” that she refused to eat, and Rice is one of the first few ingredients listed (although it doesn’t say what kind of rice).   The results also showed she had overwhelming reactions to  Bread, Corn, Oat, and Wheat.  While the other two cats love to steal any sort of bread, Jewel has never tried, maybe she knows it makes her feel yucky?

It also showed she had an overwhelming response to Grass as well as Human and Pet dander. Ever since we rescued Jewel, she has been an indoor only kitty, so I have no knowledge of any type of reaction to Grass.    I am pretty sure Jewels winter allergies are caused by Human and Pet dander – the windows aren’t open and dander settles into everything. I like to think we are clean, but obviously we need to do a better job vacuuming.

It also showed Jewel had an overwhelming response to Plastic.  This leads me to believe the plastic bowls we sometimes use, are related to her feline acne. We switched to mostly steel or ceramic, but we still have some plastic ones.

They stress that these results are not the end-all-be-all.  You should use the results as a guideline, and try to avoid certain foods to help detoxify your pet.  They explain that a healthy pet can handle certain reactions from its environment , but if they are constantly being bombarded by a lot of substances their body sees as toxic, it gets harder to fight them off, and we , as humans, start noticing the symptoms.

We are going to try avoiding foods with fish in them, and stick to Chicken, Turkey and Beef and see how Jewels body reacts over time.

You can purchase your own at pet allergy test at ImmuneIQ.com.  Once there you can add on additional tests, each for a small fee:

• Toxin
• Mold / Fungus
• Bacteria / Virus

You also have the option to RUSH your order so that once they receive your kit back, they will process your results and get the results to you within 3 Business Days.  You can also email the support team if you would like to consult with their staff to go over the results (additional fee applies).

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.