Particularly in diagnosing infectious diseases among wildlife, zoo animals, and exotic pets, the microbial growth requirements often differ significantly from the standard veterinary diagnostic care, which typically focuses on canine and feline patients.

The MiDOG All-in-One Test offers a comprehensive testing solution for any exotic animal species and any sample type

exotic animal health lab

Clinicians currently utilize diagnostic methods such as culture and sensitivity, as well as PCR or quantitative PCR (qPCR) testing. While culture and sensitivity remain the gold standard, there are notable limitations. The diverse array of pathogenic bacterial and fungal organisms necessitates careful consideration of incubation media, temperatures, oxygen levels, water contents, and incubation time to cater to individual pathogen growth requirements.

For instance, clinically relevant bacterial pathogens in avian and reptilian pets, like Flavobacterium spp., Pseudomonas spp., Mycobacteria spp., or Mycoplasma spp., exhibit slower growth in the laboratory than other bacteria. Failure to address these unique requirements could lead to misdiagnosis due to the potential overgrowth of fast-growing bacteria. Additionally, variations in body temperatures among small exotic pet mammals, avian pets, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates require different temperatures for culture growth of microbial samples.

The MiDOG All-in-One Test, which is based on next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS), emerges as a potential solution, combining the benefits of qPCR and culture and sensitivity testing. NGS uses microbial DNA or RNA as the analyte, offering high sensitivity and specificity without the need for target panel selection.

A recent study highlighted the limitations of culture testing, revealing that it failed to grow 15% of putative bacterial and 81% of putative fungal pathogens identified by NGS. The likelihood of a “no growth” diagnosis was significantly higher with culture versus NGS testing, especially in the case of fungal culture.

how midog works

Specifically, culture testing missed

microbiome testing for exotic animals

Strict and facultative anaerobic bacteria
(e.g., Enterococcus, Salmonella, Helicobacter, Klebsiella…)

Slow growing bacteria
(e.g., Mycoplasma, Mycobacterium…)

microbiome test for zoo animals

Gram positive bacteria
(e.g., Corynebacterium…)

Novel and rare pathogens
(e.g., Riemerella, Granulicatella, Fusarium…)

diagnostic testing for exotic animals

All fungi
(e.g., Nannizziopsis, Fusarium, Malassezia, Cryptococcus, Trichosporon, Candida, Aspergillus…)

For veterinarians dealing with exotic pets, the MiDOG All-in-One Test emerges as the preferred choice, providing a comprehensive solution to address the unique challenges associated with diagnosing infectious diseases in this diverse and specialized population.

animal diagnostics

Validated by Veterinarians

“Clients expect their veterinarians to stay up to date on all matters that affect the health and well being of their non-human family members. The current technique that we have used to determine the presence and antibiotic sensitivity of organisms causing disease in our pets is over a century old.

With the emergence of dangerous antibacterial resistance, it is critical that veterinarians are able to offer laser focused diagnostics and treatment. MiDog enables us to offer care that exceeds the typical standard of care.”

Bernadine Cruz, DVM, Laguna Hills Animal Hospital Laguna Woods, CA

“I love the absolute abundance and comparing the fungal with bacterial infection. I do not worry as much about getting a false negative urinary infection reading as I do with traditional urine cultures. Several times the same urine would culture negative but MiDOG would detect pathogens.”

Michael Morgan, DVMQuail Animal Hospital, Tustin, CA

“The MiDOG All-in-One Test is amazing, I would use it instead of culture and sensitivity.  Such rapid and detailed results, I will reach for MiDOG before culture next time!

Thank you very much MiDOG, for sharing the opportunity to try your technology.”

Martha Smith-Blackmore, DVM, President of Forensic Veterinary Investigations, LLC – Boston, MA

The MiDOG All-in-One Microbial Test is our new gold standard of pathogen identification. The results are so accurate and valuable – especially with assessing both bacterial and fungal infections with the same sample.

Thank you MiDOG!”

Kathy Wentworth, DVM, Diplomate ABVP Canine and Feline Practice – PetPoint Medical Center, Irvine, CA

“The MiDOG staff was extremely helpful and supportive.”

Cathy Curtis, DVM – London, UK

“I have had great results using the MiDOG® Test. Compared to traditional culture tests, I am better able to target the treatment for dogs because the MiDOG® Test is so sensitive that it identifies all pathogens including bacteria and fungi, as well as antibiotic sensitivity.

The cost and turnaround time are about the same as a culture test, but I get much more data. The test has great performance and I believe the NGS technology will be a game changer for veterinarians treating dogs with lesions or other infections.”

Michael Kavanagh, DVM, Practice owner – Saddleback Animal Hospital, Tustin, CA

“It’s helpful to have an NGS spectrum because it gives you a broader insight of what’s happening and what might be going on.”

Richard Harvey BVSc DVD DipECVD PhD FRSB FRCVS – European Specialist in Veterinary Dermatology – Head of Dermatology, Willows Veterinary Centre & Referral Service – Solihull, England UK

“I have been using MiDog for over 4 years now and exclusively as my test of choice for all cultures for 3 years.  It is so great to submit a culture and feel confident there will be a result when it comes back, especially for urine cultures.  The reports were intimidating at first because they contain so much information.  After the first few, I am now quickly able to glance over it and pick out the highlights.  I can then come back later and pour over all the details.  I have been extremely pleased with my patients’ results using the test as well.  I don’t envision ever going back to traditional culture and susceptibilities again.”

Brian M. Urmson, DVM, Columbiana Veterinary Associates

“As an exotic veterinarian, there are numerous tests we have to consider to check specific bacterial and fungal organisms based on the species. MiDOG eliminates the need for many of these separate samples and provides definitive results quickly to help us treat our patients more efficiently and effectively. The lab is wonderful to work with and has never rejected our samples- they even processed a lizard toe we amputated and determined the cause of skin infection.”

Dr. Melissa Giese, Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital

“MiDOG’s diagnostic approach offers the unique ability to identify pathogens that evade traditional culture and sensitivity testing. I have found that adding a molecular based testing approach in the form of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) from MiDOG to my routine diagnostic cultures can be extremely helpful in the identification and diagnosis of uncommon pathogens in veterinary medicine.”

Dr. Wayne Rosenkrantz, Animal Dermatology Clinic – Tustin

“She [Dr. Krumbeck] really did a great job of making complicated concepts accessible and demonstrating the value of your services. I’m really looking forward to working with MiDOG on my research project!”

Dr. Yaicha Peters, Animal Dermatology Clinic – San Diego

“As a proud collaborator with MiDOG, I deeply appreciate their dedication to fostering partnerships between industry and veterinary experts. Their commitment to enhancing diagnostic quality for veterinarians is commendable. In my experience, their support has been invaluable, earning them a ‘Double A+, Triple Star’ rating. Their assistance has been faultless, contributing significantly to the success of my projects and studies. I eagerly anticipate our continued collaboration.”

Dr. Richard Harvey, BVSc DVD DipECVD PhD FRSB FRCVS; European Specialist in Veterinary Dermatology

“We’re seeing that, if we prescribe too many antibiotics or they’re taken too frequently, animals are developing inappropriate or pathogenic strains of bacteria. We’re also seeing that our antibiotics are just not working against them anymore… It’s a good example of why we need better diagnostic testing, like MiDOG, so that we’re selecting the correct antibiotic every time our patients have an infection.”

Dr. Alissa Rexo, DVM, CVA, DACVD, Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Dermatology