Product Review: Immune IQ Dog Allergy Test

Ever since I got her Molly has been bad about itching/scratching excessively, especially around her paws.  I switched her over to grain free food right after I got her, and try to do wheat/soy/corn free treats whenever possible. She gets the occasional rule-breaking treat from friends and clerks at the liquor store, etc, which I don't sweat too much since they never seem to affect her poorly.

The food change didn't seem to make much difference, and I am suspecting allergies to plants (probably grass) since it seems to be concentrated around the paws.  Frequent bathing and use of anti-itch spray helps, but only to a point.

So, after I heard about mail-in doggie allergy testing I figured it was worth a try. I have friends that have gone to actual dog allergists and dermatologists, and if we can't contain it any other way I might have to do that eventually.  But I thought the mail-in testing would at least help me realize what I was dealing with (food vs. environment, etc).

I went with the ImmuneIQ tests, they weren't the most highly reviewed that I found, but the price was reasonable ($45 after a Groupon deal) compared to some other options, and the reviews were generally decent.  Honestly, the main criticism seemed to be that people didn't quite know what to do with the data, since it was either non-definitive (saying a dog was sensitive, but not outright allergic to an irritant) or included such a long list that they were overwhelmed.

In addition to the allergy test, they also offer some add-ons to test for molds & fungus, other toxins, and some common bacteria/viruses.  I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well go all-in so purchased those in addition to the base test.  I also opted for the express processing.

The kit itself came to me via priority mail.  The company was located in Boulder so it came to me very quickly, although it took awhile before they shipped it after I placed the order (a week or so).  The return shipping was to a lab in Las Vegas and via standard mail, so I assume it took longer but with no tracking there was no way to know (or even know if it made it safely).

Compared to the DNA breed testing I did around the same time, the test itself was much easier to administer with no hair-catching wire brush/swab but just a cotton swab, and a baggie to collect some  of her hair in.  I'm not sure how the sample collections methods between the two types of tests compare accuracy-wise.  I will say that for all it's hair-tugging faults, the swab provided with the DNA test did seem to be more medical/scientific in appearance (compared to what was obviously just a QTip in this test).

I sent it off and then waited, my rush processing meant that I was supposed to get results within three days of it arriving at the lab.  I sent it on a Friday, and figured with shipping and processing times I could expect results at the end of the following week, or possibly early the week after that if shipping was slower than I expected.  On Wednesday of the week after I sent it, I received an email with my results.

I had about the same reaction that most of the reviews did, which was that the food stuff was marginally helpful but I wasn't really sure what to do with the 'marginal' middle column.  Should I feed her that stuff or not?  How hard should I try to completely avoid vs. minimize the right hand column?  In my opinion, the company didn't do a great job communicating what the results meant.  They had a disclaimer statement in there meant to help you interpret but really it wasn't super helpful.

I also did the add-on tests and those I was much less happy with.  The bacteria and fungus tests listed a bunch of things, but a lot of them were just spores that are in the air everywhere or general bacteria that most dogs carry without incident and it wasn't clear if I should be at all worried that they showed up.  There was one skin-related fungus that might be worth asking the vet about given her itching.  I'll probably run the other results by the vet as well, although I imagine she'll be skeptical of the accuracy.

The toxin test was probably the most confusing of all, I really didn't know what to do with it.  Have I unwittingly poisoned my dog with all the things in the right hand column?  Or, is there some evidence of them and I should be careful to make sure I'm minimizing future exposure? Or, is this just indicating a susceptibility to those things, regardless of how much exposure has occurred?  The information that came with the results was unclear...so I may have to research a bit. The radon was a bit concerning, since I do have radon in my house but have a mitigation system and have had it tested in the past with safe levels.  Hopefully she's not somehow more sensitive to it or something.

The food result that was probably the most concerning was peas, since that seems to be in most dog foods. And I've been feeding her treats with peanut butter and oatmeal thinking those were safe alternatives to other wheat ingredients. I guess I will also have to stop the salmon oil supplement treats I've been giving her and try coconut oil instead.  The other fish allergies don't bug me since I don't like fish myself and can't stand the smell so she doesn't get a ton of fish-related treats anyway.

She was allergic to grass, as I suspected, but other than that the environmental information wasn't very helpful.  Also, according to this she appears to be allergic to herself (pet dander).  But at least she's not allergic to me (human dander)!

VERDICT:  I'm honesty not sure what to think about this.  It's kind of information overload.  I intend to follow the food results within reason, although I'm not sure yet if I'll switch her food, which does have some peas and salmon oil in it.  The other results seem less helpful.  I think if I did it again, I would definitely skip the toxin add-on and possibly the other add-ons as well.

Product Review: Widsom Panel 2.5 Doggie DNA Test

I have pretty much always known that if I got a mixed breed dog I would be doing the dog DNA/breed testing.  I just love these kinds of tests, both for entertainment and informational purposes, and have done the 23andme testing myself, as well as some other targeted genetic testing for known family conditions.  I'm a strong believer in the more knowledge the better!  Although I do understand how some people could feel that perhaps it's not better to know in the cases where nothing could be done about a condition, for me it's better to know than not.  But, happily breed testing is fairly non-controversial, other than some questions about how accurate it really is.  In my case, the test was mostly  to satisfy curiosity so I was prepared to accept vague results if that's what I got back.  However, there are potential medical and behavioral benefits to knowing what breed your dog is, so there are also applications beyond just pure entertainment.

Breed testing works by identifying purebred ancestors, so if your dog is a true mutt (e.g., the last several generations were mixed breed), then the results may be disappointing.  I understand how that could be frustrating but also understand it's a limitation of the technology.  The test I choose goes back three generations, so provided your dog has a purebred ancestor somewhere in that tree it should be identified.

There are a couple companies that offer at-home tests, and some blood test options offered by veterinarians office's.  I was somewhat interested in the Royal Canin blood testing since it tests for common medical conditions as well, but my vet didn't offer it (despite being listed on the website as a provider) and told me they really recommend just doing the cheaper at-home tests rather than blood testing  So, I decided to give the Widsom Panel Testing a try, which seems to me the most popular option.

There are a couple of different options; the 2.5 option was what I ended up choosing.  There is a more comprehensive 3.0 test that's only available via the Widsom Panel website, but after looking at a comparison chart, it seemed the only real advantage was the addition of some very rare breeds and a check for wolf DNA.  Since wolf DNA seemed highly unlikely in my small pup, it made more sense to save the $15 and go for the 2.5 test.  The 2.5 test tested for the MDR genetic mutation in addition to more breeds over the slightly cheaper 2.0 test, and even though the mutation is mostly associated with herding breeds it was a nice plus. The 2.5 test was available via amazon with prime shipping, so I had it in my hands and returned for testing at the lab in a matter of days.

Actually administering the test was easy in theory, with a small swab that you roll around your dog's cheek and then let dry for a few minutes.  In practice, it was actually kind of difficult since Molly has a lot of hair around her mouth and the rolling motion of the swab kept catching it, pulling out a few hairs in the process and making both of us rather upset.  In the end, I had a few hairs attached to the swab but left them on there for fear of contaminating things with my DNA if I tried to remove them.

I sent in the test using the provided packaging and prepaid mailing label and got a email back from them in a few days saying they had received it.  They advertise 2-3 weeks after receiving the test before you get an email back with your results, so I settled in for a wait.

While you are waiting, they have a nice web interface that allows you to track the status of your test, including when they are processing it, analyzing the data, preparing the report, etc.  It was a nice touch for impatient people like me.  They received by sample on 10/26, and on 11/3 the results changed to 'data being analyzed'!

Today (11/4), the results were ready for download.  Molly is.......(drumroll)...........

Mostly (1/2) Miniature Poodle, Mixed with Cocker Spaniel, Terrier of indeterminate origin, and possibly Chihuahua.

I wasn't shocked or disbelieving of these results, although they did surprise me a bit.  The Poodle wasn't super surprising, although I was a little surprised that was her biggest contributor.  The Cocker Spaniel I had considered because of her more fear-driven/submissive traits.  We had a Cocker mix growing up, and she was a great dog, but she was prone to the same types of things Molly is (fear of strangers, submissive peeing, etc).  Despite the downsides, I do like Cocker Spaniels a lot so was happy to see that mix in there.  Chihuahua was also listed, although it had an asterisk saying the confidence level wasn't as high.  It seemed like a LOT of the smaller dogs I saw on the Wisdom Panel website had Chihuahua mixed in, so I am taking that one with a grain of salt.  When I at first saw her family tree, I was shocked that it didn't include a Terrier of some type, since that was the one thing I was sure she was.

However, in reading further, they've indicated that the 'Mixed Breed' ancestor is almost certainly a Terrier of some kind.  That part was kind of disappointing since I was really curious WHAT kind of Terrier she is, but still overall a fun experience and useful information.

VERDICT:  I would definitely recommend this if you're curious and interested in learning more about your dog, and for entertainment purposes.  I wouldn't recommend it if you won't be happy with a possibly indeterminate answer.