Yep, I did it and had Missy tested with Pet Medella’s Bioenergetic Scan!
That’s a test that scans for allergies and environmental sensitivities using your pet’s DNA.
So why did I do it? After all, I constantly brag about my little cancer survivor’s excellent health, right? So why question it?
Well, for one I was naturally curious to find out what the scan results would be, but I was also intrigued by the holistic nature of the test.
I mean, I DID incorporate many lifestyle changes following her cancer scare. For example, switching her from kibble to raw dog food, vaccinating her a lot less and no longer using dryer sheets – did you know that those are filled with chemicals?! Yuck.
However, I had yet to seek advice from a holistic practitioner like PetMedella. So when they asked me if I was interested in taking the test with Missy, I jumped at the opportunity.
I Found Out What My Dog Is Allergic To With Pet Medella’s Bioenergetic Scan
Disclaimer: PetMedella provided us with a free Wellness Kit in return for an honest review. Here on K9sOverCoffee, I only share information I feel is relevant to my readers & always provide 100% honest reviews. PetMedella is not responsible for the content of this blog post.
Who Is PetMedella?
PetMedella is headquartered in St. Paul, MN and was founded by Samantha Stupak.
Samantha first developed a system of identifying major stresses in humans using BioEnergetic testing of hair and saliva, and founded Balanced Health.
She did so after battling Lyme Disease for four years when she learned about the importance of a holistic approach to health.
The company has over 60 years of natural health experience between its technicians, coaches, and practitioners. Recently, they expanded into scanning pets using the same BioEnergetic approach – PetMedella was born!
Pet Medella’s Bioenergetic Scan: Here’s What The Process Looked Like:
- We received the wellness kit in the mail
- Missy went online to www.petmedella.com/mypet and answered a series of questions regarding her current health
- We collected a hair and saliva sample from Missy and mailed it back to PetMedella
- A few days later, we received an email with a link to our results
- We had a follow-up phone consultation with a PetMedella practitioner to review the results
1. Our Wellness Kit
The Wellness Kit we received in the mail consisted of a:
- Sterile saliva collection swab
- Ziplock baggie to collect a hair sample
- ID card
- Pre-labeled & stamped return bubble mailer
2. Answering Our Kit Questions Online
Once we had checked out the contents of the wellness kit, we went online to www.petmedella.com. There, we answered the following questions about Missy’s current health:
- Is your pet aggressive towards other animals or people? Describe
- Does your pet show any unusual behavior?
- Where did you get your pet? How old were they at the time?
- Is your pet on any diets? What is your pet eating and how often?
- Does your pet get ‘people’ food? Do they get regular treats? Describe
- Known food intolerances?
- Number of bowel movements per day
- Describe your top concerns and when they started
It also asked us to list any:
- Vaccinations your pet has received
- Allergies your pet has
- Illnesses or surgeries your pet has had
- Current medications or supplements being taken
After answering those questions, we had to come up with a password and agree to PetMedella’s terms of service.
They essentially state that we understand that PetMedella’s employees aren’t veterinarians.
After that, we got an email confirmation with our unique ID number. Missy & I wrote it down on the ID card included in the Wellness Kit.
3. Collecting Missy’s Hair & Saliva Samples
Next up was the active, fun part – the hair & saliva collection.
Missy thoroughly enjoyed getting brushed for her hair sample. She also willingly let me poke around her cheeks and under her tongue to collect the saliva sample.
She’s such a good, patient girl!
4. Our Report Results Were Ready A Few Days Later
We snail mailed the samples back to PetMedella and received an email notification just a few days later.
It stated that the results of Missy’s hair & saliva analysis were ready to be viewed.
Of course we immediately hopped online and logged into our unique dashboard where we found Missy’s detailed report.
I have to admit that at first, those results were a little surprising.
After all, Missy’s teeth are super clean and her skin is glossy & shiny, both of which I attribute to the raw food diet she’s been on for the past two years.
As a matter of fact, it was her initial cancer diagnosis that prompted me to switch her from kibble to raw dog food.
Just an FYI: She’s never needed a dental cleaning and her 6th birthday is coming up.
5. Phone Consultation With PetMedella Practitioner Rochelle
After I thought about it for a moment and talked it over with Rochelle, a PetMedella practitioner, I realized that Missy’s thyroid cancer treatment must have impacted those areas of her body that came up as being stressed.
She had her last chemotherapy treatment over two years ago in March of 2015. Yet despite that time span, the toxic cocktail she had injected apparently continued to haunt her, albeit invisible to the human eye.
Now THAT was quite the epiphany for me.
I ended up being on the phone with Rochelle for about 20 minutes.
Besides walking me through Missy’s report, she also suggested a homeopathic remedy called Lympho Code to rebuild Missy’s lymphatic system. I haven’t bought it just yet, but will do so in the near future.
The cost is affordable with a $26 price tag.
Any Cons?
There’s only one con I can think of, and that would be the $150 price tag of the Wellness Kit, especially in a multi-pet household.
I do, however, believe that investing into health always makes a lot of sense and that the return on this particular investment is a good one.
Missy’s test results are the prime example – I didn’t realize she had any sensitivities or stressors until the results of her scan came back.
Pet Medella’s Bioenergetic Scan: Bottom Line
This bioenergetic scan was fun and educational.
I was particularly interested in the results as Missy had just aced her annual wellness checkup at our traditional vet’s.
The checkup included a full body exam, test for heartworms and other intestinal parasites, lyme & ehrlichia test, as well as a CBC (complete blood count).
It wasn’t, however, conducted by a holistic veterinarian or nutritionist.
Thanks to PetMedella, I now know that Missy doesn’t do well with/is sensitive to:
- Lamb
- Pheasant
- Margarine
- Cow milk
- Cheese mixes
- Bleach
- Ammonia
- Lawn chemicals
- Mold
- Cigarettes AND that her sinuses, teeth/jaw drainage, and skin are experiencing some sort of stress.
Over the course of the last two years, she’s only had lamb for a duration of about two weeks. That’s when she taste-tested new raw dog food from Darwin’s Natural Pet who we order from regularly.
I didn’t notice any obvious intolerances like diarrhea or throwing up, so maybe she’d only be visibly affected if she ate nothing but lamb. I’m not sure, but I made a mental note.
As far as her environmental sensitivities are concerned, she’s safe here with me.
I don’t smoke (used to but quit cold turkey) and never use bleach and/or any harsh cleaning products containing ammonia. I also don’t treat our lawn with any chemicals.
P.S. Analyzing My Own Human Health
As mentioned above, PetMedella also has a human side of the business and identifies major stresses in humans using the same system of scanning hair & saliva samples as demonstrated in Missy.
I plan to get an analysis of MY very own health (human scans cost $195). While I don’t suffer from a chronic illness (that I know of!), I have noticed that my body does better on some foods than on others.
I did, for example, notice that I feel much better after removing milk with cereal and (greek) yogurt from my life. I used to love both, but always felt horribly bloated after I ate them.
Have you considered scanning your dog for nutritional and/or environmental sensitivities? As always, we’d love to hear from you in our comment section!
Related Reading:
- This Controversial Dog Food Allergy Test Gave Me Helpful Results
- Raw Dog Food Recipes & Tips For Dogs With Allergies
That is so interesting! Ace has allergies (itchy skin and eyes) that seem worse in the summer and so does my cat Scout (poor guy sneezes all the time year round). We never know if it’s environmental or food for both of them. I’ve thought about an allergy test through the vet but the cost has always been my reason for not doing it. I’m glad the test helped you learn more about Missy so you’re able to help her improve. Also glad she seems to be doing really well overall. And I can’t believe those two are almost 6 already!
Hi Lindsay, yes, I’ve heard that allergy tests through the vet are a lot more than $150, so this might be a good alternative. It’s a fairly quick turnaround, too. Poor Scout – I wonder what might bother him all year round. He’s mainly an indoor kitty, right? And I wonder if there are some specific flowers in your neighborhood that bloom during summer that might make Ace’s skin & eyes itch. Did he use to have those issues before you moved to California?
Yes! Unreal that they’re turning 6 soon! Time seems to be flying. I still remember how tiny they were when they stepped into my life at 8 weeks old 😉
I’m so happy to read this review of the scan for allergies! I think we are going to do it for our GSD. We have tried EVERYTHING for his itchiness and no luck. We did switch to raw diet about a year and half ago, that didnt help either. His vet finally put him on apoquel and that worked great, but it’s extremely expensive and I would much rather go a more natural route after reading long term problems with usin it.
Hi April, talk about good timing for your GSD pup! I’d be very interested to find out what he doesn’t do well on since you mentioned that you even tried raw and that didn’t work. Maybe he’s allergic to a variety of proteins and can only tolerate one or two specific ones.
Yes, will update you when we find out!
Sweet, can’t wait! Thank you!
I wonder if this would work on cats. My cat has severe food allergies.
Hi Sherri, yes, it works on cats as well! They have also tested horses, and even reptiles, birds, and rabbits.
Thanks for sharing! Great post. Rocky had allergies for as long as I can remember. Our vet recommended giving him pills, which I’ve been giving him for a year or so until he got used to it. Luckily, my trainer recommended saliva test from Hemopet ($150 more than the one Missy tried). We changed the diet and Rocky is allergy free. However, this test sounds very educational as well. I was very supersized that our vet never mentioned allergy test. Interestingly, I also gave up dairy products completely to eliminate inflammation. Cheese was the last to go…I hope Missy feels better soon! Keep us posted.
Thanks, Anna, I’ll post about how Missy is doing on the Lympho Code once she’s taken it for a few months! That’s the bummer with pills, they only help so long :-/ I have the suspicion that the vast majority of traditional vets don’t mention any treatments that can truly cure an ailment because once the dog (or other pet) is cured, they no longer make money from treating them. I’m so glad to hear that your Rocky is allergy free now! – I’m still eating cheese every now & then…not ready to let go of that quite yet, although I probably should.