Guest Augustine The Boxer Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Hi Everyone, I am taking Augustine in the morning to get a DNA test done using a hair sample. The test will provide results on her nutritional and biological condition. This is very new to me so I am curious if any of you have tried anything similar and what your thoughts are on such tests. Positives, negatives etc. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 It's not clear to me what you're trying to learn from her DNA? It won't tell you anything about her nutrition, and there are better ways to test for allergies. Do you have any more info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Augustine The Boxer Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 The pamphlet sounded interesting so I am giving it a try, not looking for anything in particular. She appears very healthy and there are no allergies or intolerances that I know of. I will also be testing my little Maltese Mishka. The gentleman I spoke to on the phone said that he will test them for food intolerances and included in the price was happy for me to bring in about 20 of my own ingredients to add to their database. I specifically asked for this and was pleasantly surprised that he offered this service. I had made an enquiry once at another DNA clinic (wasn't hair sample service), and they said no. I asked for this because I've heard of people being told their dog is allergic to say chicken for example but I want to know what kind of chicken - free range, organic, etc. Mishka is a perfect example of this. I think it's important to look at how the food was raised or grown and what nutrients were available to it. If you can recommend any other tests you believe are more effective I'd like to know about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I really doubt that DNA from a hair sample could determine any allergies. They can't even do that for humans. I have had hair samples tested by a vet who does Traditional Chinese Medicine, with some machine she brought out from China and it can pick up nutritional deficiencies and imbalances that can cause a multitude of problems, including cancer, but it has nothing to do with extracting DNA from the hair. Hair can also be examined for things like poisoning but again the DNA within it has nothing to do with that sort of testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) Sorry but a lot about this screams scam to me. Firstly, hair is one of the worst ways to collect DNA. I won't accept it in my lab unless there's really no other option. Genetic tests for food intolerance are scarce in humans, I only know of lactose and there may be a couple of others. I really doubt that more tests have been developed for dog intolerances than humans. Intolerance is complicated and probably involves epigenetic components which wouldn't show up on a dna test. And DNA markers aren't affected by environment during an organisms life in a way that can be tested (excepting a very few progressive diseases). Mass-spectrometry can test for some metal poisonings and drugs but it's still a crude tool from what I understand. Chemistry is out of my field so they might have more success with this type of analysis - but the genetic testing claims ring huge alarm bells. All up, If they tried to sell me something based on these tests I'd be very skeptical Edited October 16, 2012 by Weasels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xyz Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Sorry but a lot about this screams scam +1..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda K Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 who is the lab - there has been a scammer around the cat world that was quoting way cheaper prices than some of the other labs, and sadly some people got fooled into using them, their results have proved bogus compared to the same tests done at UC Dsvis, and they are just after money. Agree this screams of scam. The only thing that we use hair tests for is thoroughbred foals have hair follicles taken to use for parentage confirmation, and this involves the vet pulling hair follicles from the mane - anything with the cats is just a cheek swab, not hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I don't think the OP meant to say it was a DNA test, more a chemical analysis of the hair. This can be done for people too, one of my grooming clients once got me to cut some samples of hair from her, so she could send it off to be looked at to see what diet changes could be made for better health. I've just done a quick google to find a link to explain it but all i can see are links saying it is a scam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Augustine The Boxer Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thank you for the feedback everyone. The tests are carried out at Coburg Health Care 03 9354 8007. This method was brought to my attention by a close friend who suffers from eczema. She has done blood tests in the past and she got her results back from the hair test a couple of weeks ago. She felt that the results made a lot of sense and were accurate (picking up the same things as blood and lots more). Augustine's test results will come back early next week and I will happily share. Obviously it's up to each of us to make what we will of it however without having the years of experience in the field behind me, what I can relay in simple terms is the explanations that were given to me by the practise manager Ross. Naturally it is up to us to research his testimonials and come to our own conclusions. - They initially started by doing these tests on horses and it took years to get the tests accurate. - It works on the basis that everything has a frequency and they test the hair against it. - Ross the practise manager explained that this technology has come a long way and while he thinks getting bloods done are good, he said that blood and saliva tests do not pinpoint problems. - They carried out tests on 10 horses at Flemington Racecourse and the vets there gave them a 99.99% accuracy rating. - I read a few testimonials from patients saying how accurate the results were and the improvement in their animals once they went onto the correct treatments. From what I was told it makes sense to me and he was very calm and happy to answer all my questions and share his years of experience. He was comfortable to say that there were always going to be people that disbelieve his work but he is happy to show anyone interested the science behind it. Once again thank you for the feedback, I will wait for the results and take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Does he have a website ? I'd be interest in reading about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) I don't think the OP meant to say it was a DNA test, more a chemical analysis of the hair. I hope so, because this would make more sense :) I would be very interested to see the results AtB! I hope it's helpful too :) Edited October 17, 2012 by Weasels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Augustine The Boxer Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I think you are right becks and Weasels, I did ask him if it was a DNA test and he said that it "can" be referred to as such. DNA test was the way my friend explained it to me. The brochure says, "Our team has more than 15 years of experience and research in nutritional supplements for animals; cats, dogs and horses. If you would like to know the nutritional and biological condition of your pet, for $120 you can receive a detailed proprietry naturopathic assessment including a nutritional supplement recommendation using our products." As a last minute idea, I took in samples of ALL our ingredients so that he can add it to their database. This way if it all checks out, I can safely have people test their dogs against our ingredients (which are very low intolerance and allergy risk anyway). I also took in a sample of organic chicken and human grade kangaroo mince from coles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I think you are right becks and Weasels, I did ask him if it was a DNA test and he said that it "can" be referred to as such. DNA test was the way my friend explained it to me. The brochure says, "Our team has more than 15 years of experience and research in nutritional supplements for animals; cats, dogs and horses. If you would like to know the nutritional and biological condition of your pet, for $120 you can receive a detailed proprietry naturopathic assessment including a nutritional supplement recommendation using our products." As a last minute idea, I took in samples of ALL our ingredients so that he can add it to their database. This way if it all checks out, I can safely have people test their dogs against our ingredients (which are very low intolerance and allergy risk anyway). I also took in a sample of organic chicken and human grade kangaroo mince from coles. Sounds like an expensive way for them to make you buy their products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda K Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 will be interesting to see if they come back saying things are deficient and the only way to rectify it is by using all their supplements Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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