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Frequently Asked Questions
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Do you release the results on the next day?Yes. We release the results the next day. For example, a specimen received on Monday will be processed on the same day, and the results will be released to you on Tuesday. The exception is Saturday. If we receive a specimen from your office on Saturday, you will get the test results on Monday. The 24-hour turnaround time is available for dog allergy testing, cat allergy testing, horse allergy testing, Lyme disease test for dogs, Lyme disease test for horses, Echinococcus test for dogs, and West Nile virus test for horses.
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How can we get your serum collection and transportation kits?Please, submit your information on our website and send us an e-mail requesting the kits. They will be delivered to your clinic preassembled and free of charge within 1-2 days.
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Do we pay to ship a serum sample to your laboratory?No! Pet Preferred Diagnostics will provide you with a prepaid priority mail envelope. Just follow the instructions that are included in the kit.
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Is the Early Cancer Diagnostics test available for cats?Yes, Pet Preferred Diagnostics Early Cancer screening test is available for cats and requires only 0.1 ml of serum or plasma.
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Who and when should be tested with the Early Cancer Diagnostics test?The test is highly recommended as an EARLY SCREENING CANCER TEST for all dogs and cats at 5 years and older during the annual exam, and at 4 years and older for breeds that are predisposed to cancer.
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How many kits can be sent to your laboratory in one envelope?You can put two kits in one envelope. You also can ship several serum samples in one box. Please make sure that the tubes containing the serum are appropriately marked and correspond with the information on requisition forms.
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Can we send two serum samples in one transportation box?You can put two or more serum samples in one box. However, do not forget to appropriately mark the tubes with serum samples and include the corresponding requisition forms in the envelope. It's the same for all veterinary lab tests.
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Do you require shipping a serum sample with a cool pack?No. We do not require a cool pack.
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What if we collected the serum sample, but are not able to ship it on the same day?It is not a problem. Please, keep the serum sample refrigerated and ship it at your convenience. The serum sample can stay in refrigerator at +4C for up to a week.
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How sensitive is your Lyme disease test for dogs?It is very sensitive. Our test detects 8 antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi at the early and later stages of infection in a single sample with 100% sensitivity. Please see the details for our Lyme disease test here.
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How do we receive the test results?We will send you an e-mail containing the results in PDF format. We can also Fax the results to your office upon your request. The test results are very easy-to-read, interpret and understand, because of the new technologies that we use for veterinary diagnostics.
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Does Pet Preferred Diagnostics accept samples from other countries?Yes. We accept serum samples from other countries. Please contact us for instructions or visit: https://www.petpreferreddx.com/for-veterinary-care-providers for instructions for our international customers.
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How much serum do we need to send to Pet Preferred Diagnostics for testing?We require 1 ml of serum. Our 54-allergen panels require only 0.5 ml of serum, and the Food Intolerance (IgG) test requires only 0.1 ml of serum thanks to our modern technologies. These volumes include the spare amount of serum in case if we need to rerun the test.
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When will the allergy test for horses be available?The allergy tests for equines are available. We have the Pollen-only panel and a panel testing for environmental, insects, mold, fungi, mites and pollen allergens.
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How accurate and consistent is an allergy test?An allergy test detects the IgE antibodies produced by the immune system as soon as the immune system sees the target. Then antibodies developed to fight the allergen remain in the system for a while. After a certain period, pets can be exposed to new allergens (pollen, for example). This means that a new allergy test will detect some new antibodies on top of the antibodies that are already present. The third allergy test can also detect antibodies against mold, for example, if a pet was exposed to mold after a humid season. Thus, three different tests could yield three different results, but it does not mean that the results are wrong.
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What makes Pet Preferred Diagnostics have the largest allergy panels for the lowest price?When we opened our laboratory in 2020, one of our goals was to make allergy tests affordable and available for all pet owners. We made this possible by utilizing modern scientific findings and a new generation of equipment, specifically designed for pet allergy testing.
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Can the pet be on antihistamines or steroids when we draw the sample?The advantage of our technologies is that your patients can continue receiving their medications. Steroids and antihistamines do not affect the test results.
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Do you provide a food list for those that do the food allergy testing?We discuss the elimination diet with the doctor that ordered the test. We recommend excluding all harmful food ingredients from a pet’s food. After a patient is stabilized (does not have allergy symptoms), the owner can carefully add back an ingredient and see if the pet is nor reacting. Let’s say that an allergy test revealed beef, pork and lamb as harmful. You need to recommend excluding all these ingredients. When the allergy symptoms are gone, the pet owner can add beef. If the pet is feeling good, they can add pork. If the after adding pork, the patient experiences symptoms, then the pork in the ingredient to avoid. We will always discuss with you a possible food for your patients upon your request. However, we do not provide with a food list since there are so many variants of a pet food on market. It should be your and your client’s decision what to give in every case.
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Do you do regional specific allergens?Our allergy panels are universal for all regions. They contain the most common allergens for all regions. We tested and we receive serum samples from the entire country. We can assure that a dog from Iowa, for example, will never be allergic to palm tree if it never was exposed to a palm tree.
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Is there a limit to how many allergens can go into an immunotherapy treatment set?We can use up to 15 allergens for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) and up to 20 for injectables (SCIT).
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Is there a test and immunotherapy treatment plan?yes, there is a treatment plan for SLIT and SCIT that is provided with immunotherapy. We recommend repeating the allergy test in a few months after finishing the immunotherapy.
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How long between ordering the treatment and receiving the immunotherapy?It takes up to 10 business days to formulate the immunotherapy.
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Do you ship the immunotherapy to pet owners?No. We do not work directly with pet owners. Immunotherapy and test results are released to veterinarians. In some cases, upon a veterinarian's request, we can send the immunotherapy to a pet owner’s residence.
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If we have a patient on maintenance from another lab, what would it take to switch to you?All that you need to do is start working with us. If you need to redo a test, we will be happy to do it for you. If you already have an allergy test result from another lab, it is not a problem as well. We can formulate the immunotherapy based on the test results obtained from a different laboratory.
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Do you require a contract with a vet clinic?We never require a contract with a vet clinic. Once our colleagues try our service, they stay with us.
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Can you perhaps share what kind of IgE test you are using for allergy diagnostics in dogs? Is it an ELISA test or a something else?It is not ELISA. We are using the latest multiplex immunoblot technologies for canine, feline and equine allergy testing. These technologies make our test very sensitive and specific.
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Are you using monoclonal or polyclonal anti-IgE antibodies for the allergy test?We use monoclonal antibodies. However, we also have a custom-made polyclonal antibody that completely replicated the results obtained with monoclonal antibodies.
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Are you using blocking anti-CCD antibodies before you run the patient serum through your test?We have a cross-reactivity detector that shows a positivity in some cases. Thus, if the CCD marker is positive, yes, we re-run the test with anti-CCD antibodies. If the CCD marker is negative on our strips, there is no need to use blocking anti-CCD antibodies before the run.
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Are you performing this test in your own laboratory or are you sending it out to another laboratory?All the tests that are offered by Pet Preferred Diagnostics are performed in our own laboratory in Alpharetta, GA. That and our technologies make us to be the only laboratory releasing all test results within 24 business hours after receiving a serum sample.
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How is your Lyme disease test for dogs different from the one that we have in clinics?The Lyme disease test available in veterinary clinics (the SNAP test) is a quick test that only indicates "positive" or "negative" results. If the result is positive, further analysis is required, which may involve additional blood collection, expenses, and time. Furthermore, if the test is performed six or more weeks after a dog has been bitten by an infected tick, the SNAP test may not detect Lyme disease. Our test detects 8 antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi at both early and later stages (six months and later after a dog has been bitten by an infected tick) of infection in a single sample with 100% sensitivity. With our test you can monitor the treatment. The test will show the decreased level of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in the case of a successful treatment.
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