Did you know that there are many more valuable ways to evaluate your companion’s health than just routine blood work? Here are some additional tools that can help you be proactive in assessing their overall health and well-being.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis – This is a completely non-invasive approach to understanding any nutritional and environmental deficiencies or toxicities. Most panels include the assessment of trace nutrients, which is very valuable for those following DIY meals, on ultra-processed diets, or for any periodic nutritional assessment. They also detect heavy metals, arsenic, and other common toxins, so we can look for sites of exposure and reduce these stressors.
Microbiome Assay – With just a regular stool sample, we can compare your dog’s microbiome to what a healthy and diverse canine microbiome should look like. This allows us to address specific nutritional needs, assess which types of prebiotics may be beneficial, and appropriately target our use of probiotics. These assays can be hugely beneficial for any patient suffering from chronic allergies or gastrointestinal issues or as part of a general wellness assessment.
Stress/Intolerance Testing – Another non-invasive test requires just a few clippings of hair and a cheek swab to get feedback from the body. They measure the body’s natural frequency and assess stressors in a process called Quantum Biofeedback. The report includes stressors ranging from foods, plants, and trees, household chemicals, molds, insects, and more so that you can reduce stressors in your pet’s environment.
Cancer Risk Assessment – Though it may be hard to consider the dreaded cancer diagnosis in our healthy companions, there are simple blood tests that help to monitor specific markers that are suggestive of cancer. Assessing for a healthy baseline and then utilizing for early detection can be lifesaving.
Osteoarthritis Assessment (Hyaluronic Acid): Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of degenerative joint disease and impacts nearly 80% of our senior companions. Through a simple blood test, we can measure levels of hyaluronic acid and inflammatory markers to detect early signs of OA, as well as monitor the efficacy of our treatment.
Omega-3 Index (Omega Quant) – We have all heard about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids. They are an integral part of our cell membranes and a huge component of the health of our skin, brain, joints, and overall inflammatory system. These fats can become rancid with overly processed diets, resulting in a very common deficiency. With a simple blood test, we can measure the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cells to determine an overall body index score to identify efficient levels. Once supplemented, deficiencies can be corrected within 3-4 weeks.
