Allergy testing in children - does anyone know?

[Alabasterangel6]

We’ve got an allergy test appt for DS in half term.

Does anyone know if the testing specifies allergies to dogs and cats individually, or whether it’s a generic pet fur test.

DS is allergic to dogs, no question.

However we had a cat at home until he was almost 2, and no sign of any issues with allergy to the cat (bearing in mind he was crawling on the floor etc). Also even after the cat died we remained in that house where the cat lived for another couple of years so in an environment where a cat had lived. It was during that time he had his first acute reaction to a dog.

So I have always questioned if he will have built up a resistence to cats and it’s just dogs, and would like know if they will be testing individually?

Does anyone know?

I'm pretty sure they are separate as i was tested a long time ago and a m allergic to both.

We've recently had allergy testing and they broke everything down, think we had 14 'substances' pricked into the skin

This is dd’s form from a couple of weeks ago, definitely separate

I’ll try again

Yes it's individual allergies not all lumped together. We have cats but have been told ds is allergic to them. Multiple trees/grasses not dog though.

This is so amazing. Thank you @Corneliusmurphy. I’ve got a 5 page long thread about DS and the cat who has decided we are home. Presuming these tests were NHS then this helps me to understand enormously. Thank you.

Worth noting I’m allergic to some dogs and some cats. Not all.

@Corneliusmurphy can I ask how quickly you got the results?

If it's a skin prick test they tell you straight away. Ds had it last year. They prick the skin on the arm in a few places and then put a drop of the allergen on them. If a hive comes up it means you're allergic. He was allergic dog hair, but not cat hair. He was referred for nut allergy but they tested for lots of things.

Thank you

Sorry to hijack, but my DD's Dad took her to the doctors on Wednesday hoping for allergy testing as she has been sent home 3 times in 4 weeks with a red itchy rash type thing across her face. It seems to have come from nowhere and antihistamines are clearing it up eventually.
The nurse he seen though had said that they no longer do allergy testing as this can cause anaphylactic shock? And basically said that we are just to treat with antihistamines instead of getting to the bottom of what is causing the allergy.
Have we been fobbed off or is this standard now?

@LaskaLene that is nonsense, prick testing still very much the norm. If anaphylaxis was indicated, they might diagnose based on blood testing instead (I am anaphylactic to peanuts, and am not prick tested with them). Insist on referral

Could she be reacting to a cleaning chemical /soap that is used at school/nursery?

I wouldn't be happy with that. I'm in ireland and initially gp did blood test but we knew what was causing the reaction ourselves at that point. At a later stage I brought Ds to a private allergy consultant who then referred him to the public system. So within a few months Ds had the skin prick test done twice, which was great (not pleasant for Ds though). I'd be asking your gp for a referral to an allergy specialist if that's possible in U.K. Otherwise go private.

Can you narrow down what your child had been eating on the day dd had the rash?

I had to push for the appointment, dd was sick a couple of times after eating curry that wasn’t home made but initially I thought this was just a coincidence. We were at a theme park a couple earlier this year and she practically passed out after trying half a cashew (she’s not normally a fan of nuts and I still don’t know what possessed her to try one on that particular day)

The gp didn’t seem to think that was enough to warrant the allergy clinic but I insisted, then we had to wait months for the appointment (all nhs)

The clinic staff were not impressed the dr hadn’t wanted to send the letter and as a pp said the results were instant - we left with an epipen prescription; she is extremely allergic to cashew and pistachio (also various pollen but I knew she had hay fever)

I have an (undiagnosed) pet allergy, short hair and scales brings me up in hives but antihistamine is enough to clear it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll have to go back with her and push for it, I'm not happy that they've basically told us that we just need to treat the symptoms rather than find out exactly what's going on.
I didn't think it sounded right to be honest!
Appreciate it everyone, thanks!