Environmental Allergy Testing

Allergy testing is performed only on pets that have been diagnosed with environmental allergies, and it is used to identify their specific allergic triggers. The goal of allergy testing is to help your pet’s dermatologist formulate a specific treatment mixture to reduce your pet’s allergic responses (called desensitization). Allergy testing can be performed either as a blood test (called serum allergy testing) or as a sedated skin test (called intradermal allergy testing). Neither type of testing will successfully test for food allergies.

For serum allergy testing, a blood sample is collected during your pet’s appointment and submitted to a specialized lab. The lab will test your pet’s blood for reactions to certain environmental allergens and will send results back within 7 – 21 days. In some cases, serum allergy testing gives incomplete results and sedated skin testing is then required. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict whether your pet’s results will be incomplete before the test is performed.  

Sedated allergy testing is performed in the hospital. Your pet will usually be dropped off for around 2 – 4 hours. We will shave a small area on their legs in order to insert an IV catheter, and your pet will receive a mild, reversible sedative during the test to make the procedure less stressful. Once your pet is sleepy, we will shave a patch of hair on their side about the size of a postcard, and inject 50 environmental allergens into their skin. The test is read the same day and your pet can go home with their new allergy treatment formulation that afternoon. Please be aware that sedated allergy tests are almost never performed at your pet’s first appointment – they are scheduled several weeks in advance after your pet has been evaluated by the doctor.

At home care after sedated allergy testing:

Your pet will go home with a shaved area on their side that we have covered with a thin layer of topical steroid to make them more comfortable. The bumps from the test will go away within a few days, though the hair may take several weeks to a month (occasionally more) to start to grow back. This is rare, but if your pet seems very uncomfortable after their allergy test (itching, licking, scratching their test site), please call us so we can give them a short course of medication to help!