ClueJay from Home Cat Stool Test Kit Level 1 for Intestinal Parasites (Worms), White, Small (341231)

I recently purchased ClueJay to for my indoor kitty who hasn’t been feeling well. With the pandemic, I didn’t want to run the risk of putting myself or my kitty’s health at risk and chance the long schedule/wait times at the vet. As a preliminary precaution, I ordered the ClueJay Cat Stool (Fecal) at Home Test Kit! It was super simple and easy to use, from the collection directions, creating the online account, to walking it out to my mailbox all in a matter of minutes. The test results were received the next day and the same evening, I had the results - roundworms. Now that we know, we’ll begin treating her without chancing our health, and additional costs all to get the same results. I highly recommend ClueJay home kit to others to keep yourself and your fur babies safe and healthy at a fraction of the cost.

This kit is great! It is so convenient to be able to just take the sample at home and drop it in the mail. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. We will definitely be using this again! (As you can see from the photo, our cat loves it too!)

This is an at-home test only in the sense that you collect the samples. You still have to send off your sample to a lab.We run a foster and rescue kitten operation out of our home. These kittens (frequently with their outdoor mamas) generally come to us with a host of problems, so being able to do an at-home cat stool test to check for parasites seemed like a no-brainer. I should have read the fine print.You need to do the test, then mail it off to a lab. While turnaround time is supposed to be three days (an eternity in context), given the mail problems during the pandemic I suspect it will be longer.And you also need to pay the lab fee!By the time you're all done, I think a visit to the vet might have been cheaper. Certainly, it would get your cat treatment a lot more rapidly. For one thing, you can pick up the needed medication while you're there.Really the only reason I can see to buy this test is if you absolutely positively do not want to go into a vet's office during the pandemic – and I wouldn't blame you one bit. Otherwise? The added expense and more importantly the added time needed to mail off and perform a test that your vet would have handled right in their office make this a less than desirable option.

This kit is easy to use and seems to provide accurate results, however my main gripe is with the cost for anything beyond "level 1" screening. Level 1 screening is only for roundworms and parasites. From what I can tell, they just put the stool sample onto a slide and examine it under a microscope for signs of parasite eggs or worms. If you are feeling adventurous, you could even do this yourself with a cheapo microscope and some glass slides. Level 2 and up is where you start to get more interesting results -- these levels they seem to use PCR to test for microbial presence. Level 3 just claims "microbes" -- I am not sure if they are just using a PCR panel, or if they are using NGS for this (I presume the former). The total cost for Level 1 would be $80, Level 2 would be $100, and Level 3 would be $220. This includes "lab fees" and kit/upgrade costs.If you need these tests done, you should see how much they cost at your local vet -- it might be cheaper than this. If this ClueJay service does end up being cheaper, just make sure your vet will recognize the testing service they provide. My gripe with how overpriced this is comes in relation to how much I know this service should cost. Level 1 service doesn't require much cost for reagents -- it's mostly the time to look at the slides (and they don't spend very long on each slide). Level 2 and 3 do require reagents and consumables for the PCR, but PCR is so common these days that the reagents are priced like a cheap commodity. For reference, a company like 23andMe charges $200 for a full NGS run and subsequent data analysis (the package is frequently on sale for $100). This is generally a MUCH more expensive process than PCR (depending on which Illumina machine you are using, how highly multiplexed you are, etc.), and they also have extra overhead in order to maintain the samples/data and keep up with FDA compliance for human samples/data/interpretation! ClueJay is using a cheaper method, yet charging a higher price if you want any of the interesting "levels".Overall, I would only recommend the ClueJay service if you have already confirmed that the same service is more expensive from your local vet AND you definitely need the screening service AND your vet will recognize the results of the tests.

Ok, I get it, getting a sample kit from your vet, then going back to drop it off, and then possibly going back to get the results + medicine is a pain. but really, our vet will give you these kits for Free! Then you can drop off and they'll call with the results. AND its cheaper! Our vet will do these sans visit, for about $50, including all the normal tests.They also offer a Senior Panel which includes drawing blood, and blood work, stool, ect for $190 which is far more complete than this.If I had known it was $65 to get the basic tests done, or $180 plus this kit I wouldn't have bothered.Yes It saves some effort, but if anything comes up you'd need to go back to the vet anything