Species: Canine, feline, equine
Specimen: Serum (at least 1.5mL)
Container: Plain (red top) or gel tube
Collection protocol: Venepuncture
Special handling/shipping requirements: Standard
General information about the disease: Atopy is an inflammatory and pruritic allergic skin disease with characteristic clinical features. It is characterised by the tendency to produce IgE antibodies to commonly encountered environmental antigens.
General information about when this test is indicated:
The Heska ALLERCEPT® IgE test can be used to support a clinical diagnosis of atopy or other IgE-mediated disease. The test does not diagnose atopy because some non-atopic, healthy animals may have high circulating IgE levels to some allergens.
The test identifies allergen specific IgE in the serum of dogs, cats and horses using an ELISA technique. The panel tests a total of 48 allergens, including weeds, mites/insects, trees, grasses and moulds, as recommended by specialist dermatologists for Australasian conditions. Knowledge of which allergens are involved can then be used to develop allergen specific immunotherapies**.
This test should be used following consultation with your dermatologist.
Allergens tested for include:
Trees
- Elm
- Maple
- Grey Birch
- Red Oak
- Silver Poplar
- Liquidambar
- Plane Tree
- Privet
- Olive
- Cypress
- Black Willow
- Pine Mix
- Melaleuca
- Eucalyptus
- Casuarina
- Wattle
Grasses
- Paspalum
- Couch (Bermuda Grass)
- Brome Grass
- Phalaris (Canary Grass)
- Sweet Vernal
- Kentucky Blue Grass
- Bent Grass (Red Top)
- Timothy Grass
- Perennial Rye grass
- Yorkshire Fog
- Johnson Grass
Weeds
- Curled Dock
- Sheep Sorrel
- Red Root Amaranth
- Fat Hen
- Lamb’s Tongue
- Perennial Ragweed
- Mugwort
- Mustard Weed
- Dandelion
- Daisy
Mites/insects
- Flea Saliva
- Ant
- Cockroach
- D. pteronyssinus
- D. farinae
- Tyrophagus putrescentiae
Moulds
- Malassezia
- Alternaria
- Aspergillus
- Cladosporium
- Penicillium
Also see “Got an itch?” article written November 2023 for more information
Notes:
**Due to license/import restrictions allergen specific immunotherapy products are only available through limited channels such as practices specialising in dermatology. Awanui Veterinary is currently unable to import or sell these items to veterinarians.
This test is not performed by Awanui Veterinary and requires referral to an external reference laboratory.