Let me start by saying that I know there are mixed opinions on food and environmental intolerance tests and that “the only sure way to determine an intolerance is to do an elimination diet”. HOWEVER: this experience has been life changing for us and our pup — and it indicated things to us we had no idea to eliminate for her, as she’d never seemed intolerant to them before!
Some backstory: our 18mo pup has eaten chicken and brown rice kibble since we first got her at 8 weeks. She seemed to have no issues with her food for a whole year. A few sicknesses here and there but we chalked it up to living in the big city and playing with so many dogs and playing in the big parks. Then we graduated her from the puppy version to the adult version of her food and things started to take a turn. She started to get bloody stools, she got pneumonia, she went to the ER, she vomited, she was constantly on a bland diet and then as soon as she’d wean back onto kibble fully, the cycle would begin again. After multiple visits to the vet (and many prescriptions later), I knew something was up and that it most likely had to do with her food. What I DIDN’T know, however, was that not only was her kibble full of foods she’s intolerant to — but so was her prescribed bland diet!!! The poor girl has been eating a diet of foods she’s a Level 3 intolerant to for MOOOONTHS. We immediately switched her to a different protein, found a food without the ingredients she’s intolerant to (hard to do but we did it!) and she’s like a new dog. Her eyes are brighter, she doesn’t scratch all the time, her poops are great (ha!), she hasn’t been sick since we made the switch, she’s full of life… it’s truly amazing to see. This test changed our lives, but most importantly, it changed our pup’s. Can’t say enough positive things about this experience.