Thursday, January 21, 2010

The results are in!


Jenny's allergy results finally came back today. http://www.greerlabs.com/vet/vet.testing.php

She is not allergic to trees, weeds, or grass. This is great news when it comes to tracking and other outdoor activities. (Her highest number for trees was 18, highest for weeds was 23, highest number for grass was 18. The scoring chart is below.)
*
Negative also for all insects including fleas. Her only reading was a 15 MAU for the German Cockroach. Yeah, I don't know what that is either.
*
Only one semi high number in the fungas (29 MAU) for aspergillus. Which may mean a sensitivity. (But I will do alittle more research on this possibility.) Next highest number was only a 15.
*
She only had one high reading on the food chart which was for Liver. (46 MAU) The next number down was a 14. So much for trying all those different diets. And liver is one of the ingredients in the raw diet I was preparing. All the stuff I have been avoiding? They came up zero's. How ironic.
*
What she is allergic to with readings in the 50's (50, 50, 57, and 58) are 2 types of dust mites (common house dust) and 2 types of grain mites. (flour mites and the like)
*
So this means more frequent washing of her bedding, more vacuming/dusting the house and more baths. I will also need to avoid liver and stop giving her the pro-biotics I have been using. The good news is that is all easily do-able. I do also have the option of doing immunotherapy for the mites as that is what Greer recommended. I think for now I will hold off though and first try managing it with good old fashioned elbow grease. And even though she had those numbers in mites, they aren't nearly as bad as they could be. She's already had her first bath and bedding is in the wash as I type this. I've also already checked her treats and bought some new ones sans liver.
*
It is a relief to have this info. No more worry about giving table scraps or trying to "figure it out" though trial and error. Even though testing is pricey, even with my discount, for me it was definatly worth it.
*
From the paperwork - Greer allergy scoring is as follows:
*
0 to 39 Scores in this range indicate that no circulating allergen specific IgE was detected for the allergens tested.
*
40 to 59 Scores in this range should be considered significant if the allergens are found in the pet's environment and they relate to the clinical history.
*
60 to 100 Scores in this range are considered significant. Immunotherapy for these allergens should be considered if they are found in the pet's environment and they relate to the clinical hstory.
*
MAU = Modified Absorbable Units, MAU's indicate the level of allergen specific IgE detected. The magnitude of the signal does not necessarily correlate with the severity of the disease but reflects the pet's immune system response to allergens.

No comments: