Testing
Hair mineral testing for dogs and horses
Reviewed by Carmen Farrugia — Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, and an AHPRA-registered midwife (NMW0001034617)
Last updated
A hair tissue mineral analysis for dogs and horses, measuring 31 elements from a sample you collect at home. The test costs $345.
Other animals can be tested too, but the report is different. Read the note below before ordering, so you know exactly what you’ll receive.
⛔ Read this before ordering
This is a laboratory testing service. It is not a veterinary service.
The naturopaths here are not veterinarians. They can’t examine your animal, can’t read its results as a veterinary diagnosis, and can’t advise on treatment.
What you receive is the laboratory report, and it’s for your veterinarian to consider alongside the animal’s examination, history and any other testing.
If what you’re after is veterinary assessment or treatment advice, this isn’t the right service.
A suspected poisoning is a veterinary emergency. Don’t wait several weeks for a hair report, and don’t use a hair test to conclude that an exposure didn’t happen. Hair testing cannot rule out poisoning or a recent exposure.
⛔ All three are required to start the test
Your sample, your questionnaire and your payment are all required. The laboratory cannot begin until all three have been received:
- Your hair sample — posted to us
- Your completed questionnaire — submitted online
- Your payment — online through the shop, or over the phone
The questionnaire is particularly important. It carries the information that has to accompany the sample: the animal’s species, breed, age, sex, sample date, reason for testing and medications.
Getting started — four steps
1. Prepare the sample
No kit is posted to you.
Collect about one tablespoon of hair from the head and above the shoulders. Cut it as close to the skin as possible, to a maximum length of 4 cm.
Those are the laboratory’s requirements. Hair length and sampling location decide what period, and what material, the sample represents.
Seal the hair in a clean paper envelope of its own, with the animal’s name on it, and put that envelope inside the one you post. Paper only — no plastic and no aluminium foil, and nothing else in with the hair, so it can’t spill out when the envelope is opened.
2. Send the sample
Post the envelope to:
Naturopathy Melbourne5/68 Melville Road
Brunswick West VIC 3055
The turnaround period begins when the sample arrives at the clinic, not when it’s posted.
3. Complete the questionnaire
It asks about the animal — species, breed, age, sex, sample date, reason for testing and medications.
Complete the animal questionnaire →
4. Pay
The test costs $345. Order it at the foot of this page, or call the clinic and pay over the phone.
Paying online gives you an order number. Paying by phone does not — a phone payment is recorded against the name of the animal being tested, rather than the person paying. Either way it is the animal’s name that ties the payment to the envelope and the questionnaire, so use the same one on all three.
What the analysis measures
Hair mineral analysis is a screening measurement, not a diagnostic test.
The laboratory measures 31 elements in the submitted hair sample. Those results shouldn’t be used on their own to diagnose a mineral deficiency, a toxicity or a poisoning.
Hair analysis has recognised limitations, including the influence of external contamination and the differences between laboratories and analytical methods.
So the result is best treated as one source of information rather than a diagnosis. Your veterinarian can decide whether the findings are relevant alongside the animal’s clinical examination, history and other investigations.
About the laboratory’s recommendations
For dogs and horses, the report includes laboratory-generated reference information and dietary suggestions.
Those are generated from the hair sample and the information supplied with it. The laboratory has not examined the animal and doesn’t know its full clinical history — which is why they aren’t veterinary treatment advice.
⚠ Other animals
Dogs and horses receive the full report: element results, reference ranges and dietary suggestions.
For other species, the laboratory provides the measured results only. That means:
- No species-specific reference ranges
- No dietary suggestions
- Measurement data for your veterinarian to consider
The laboratory hasn’t established the same reference ranges for those species, so the test produces a different report from the canine and equine version.
The price is the same $345, so please be sure of that difference before ordering.
What can affect a sample
Avoid collecting hair with:
- Shampoo, spray or coat conditioner residue
- Recent flea or other topical treatments
- Hair taken below the shoulders
- Hair longer than 4 cm
- Hair from only one small patch
- Too little hair to work with
- Plastic or foil packaging. A clean paper envelope, nothing else
If your animal has recently been washed or treated, tell us on the questionnaire rather than working around it.
Fees and cancellation
The test costs $345.
There is no Medicare rebate for hair mineral analysis, and most private health funds don’t cover the laboratory test either.
If you separately consult a naturopath about your own health, that consultation may be claimable where naturopathy is included in your extras cover. Check with your fund before booking.
If you cancel before laboratory analysis has begun, a 20% administration fee applies and the balance is refunded. Once analysis has begun the test can’t be refunded, because the laboratory’s costs have already been incurred.
If you’re unsure whether this test suits your animal, ask before you order. Full terms are on the refunds page.
Turnaround
Around three to four weeks from the day your sample arrives at the clinic.
The clock starts when the sample is received, not when it’s posted.
What you receive
You receive the laboratory report.
Give it to your veterinarian, who can decide whether the findings are relevant to your animal’s circumstances.
Testing for people
The human hair mineral and heavy metal test measures 36 elements.
Order the test
Payment is one of the three things the laboratory needs. Your sample and your questionnaire are the other two.
A hair tissue mineral analysis for dogs and horses, measuring 31 elements. Other animals can be tested but get result data only. The report goes to your vet — this clinic cannot give veterinary advice.
Your questionnaire is part of this order. Fill it in now or straight after paying →
You can also pay over the phone — call the clinic on (03) 9089 7568 and reception will take it.
Frequently asked questions
Can you tell me what my animal's result means?
I think my animal has been poisoned. Is this the right test?
How much hair does the laboratory need?
Which animals is it available for?
How long do results take?
Ready to order?
Your sample, your questionnaire and your payment — the laboratory needs all three before it can begin.