Frequently asked questions

Omi is a longevity membership for dogs. Once a year you get a blood draw at one of our testing locations, reading 62 biomarkers that show how your dog is really doing on the inside. Founding members also get our cellular aging test, a quick cheek swab taken at that same appointment that reads 18 more markers, free — so the full picture Omi builds runs to 80+ biomarkers. You get a personalized health plan in the app, an AI vet chat trained on veterinary-reviewed data, and a clear picture of what's happening inside your dog while they still look and feel great. It's $250 a year for the health read your annual checkup was never designed to give you.

One blood biomarker test a year, and a personalized action plan built from your own dog's results — all in one app, with a 24/7 AI vet chat trained on veterinary-reviewed data to answer the questions that come up. Omi also prepares vet-ready health records you can bring to your own veterinarian, with a briefing on what to ask about and discuss, so you stay in control and can loop your vet in exactly when it counts. Founding members get the cellular aging test free on top of that, swabbed at the same appointment as the blood draw. All of it for $250 a year.

Any dog owner who'd rather get ahead of a health problem than react to one. Omi works for dogs of every breed and age, and the earlier you start, the more valuable your dog's record becomes — because the real power isn't a single snapshot, it's watching the trend over years. If your dog is already a senior, this is still exactly the right time to know what's actually happening inside their body.

Most pet tests do one thing: tell you your dog is 40% Lab, or run a basic panel of 10 to 15 markers at the vet. Omi puts together two tests that don't exist together anywhere else: a 62-biomarker blood longevity panel across metabolic, kidney, liver, inflammatory, thyroid, and cognitive health, plus a cellular aging test that reads biological age from 18 genetic markers through DNA methylation. That's 80+ markers, repeated year after year, so you're never looking at one number in isolation. You're watching how your dog is actually trending over time.

Omi was founded by Sindu Chaparala and Jakob Spiess, who met at Harvard Business School and bonded over the same frustration: they loved their dogs — Sindu's Omi, Jakob's Charlie — but kept running into a pet healthcare system that felt decades behind that love. Sindu watched vets wave off Omi's food sensitivities as "normal" while she clearly suffered; Jakob realized he could track a dozen metrics on his own health and had almost no signal on his dog's. So they built the tool they wished existed, working with the world's leading pet longevity experts to do it right. You can read the whole story on our Our Story page.

Biomarkers are measurable signals in your dog's blood that show how their organs, immune system, and metabolism are actually working — kidney enzymes, inflammatory markers, cholesterol, thyroid levels, and dozens more. Think of them as the dashboard lights for your dog's body. The reason we track them every year is that a single value can look "normal" while quietly drifting in the wrong direction. Catch that drift early and you can often change the outcome. Notice it only once your dog is symptomatic and you're usually playing catch-up.

62 biomarkers spanning kidney function, liver health, metabolic efficiency, inflammation, thyroid, cardiac markers, and cognitive indicators. Each one gets scored against preventive ranges — not just the "is this a disease yet" thresholds most labs use, but tighter windows that flag a shift while it's still early and, often, still reversible. It's less a pass/fail checkup and more a full internal read on where your dog stands.

Your dog's biological age, and it's the coolest part of the science. The cheek swab, taken at your blood-draw appointment, captures your dog's DNA, and we run full gene sequencing on it — reading 18 epigenetic markers through DNA methylation to calculate how old your dog's body is actually functioning, not just how many birthdays they've had. Sequencing is the deep, gold-standard way to do this: instead of estimating, we're reading your dog's genes directly. It gives you one powerful number that anchors everything else — your baseline for longevity, and the thing we watch move as you make changes. The cellular aging test is a founding-member perk: it comes free with a founding membership, and it is not part of a standard membership.

Your dog's real age is just birthdays. Biological age is how old their body is actually functioning at a cellular level, measured through DNA methylation — chemical marks that build up on DNA as the body ages and responds to diet, stress, exercise, and environment. A 5-year-old dog might be biologically 3 or biologically 7. That number gives you a true baseline for longevity, and testing again over time shows whether the changes you're making are genuinely slowing your dog's aging down.

It's the chemistry behind biological age. As your dog lives their life, tiny chemical tags attach to their DNA and shift the way genes switch on and off. The pattern of those tags is a remarkably accurate clock — it reflects how your dog's lifestyle and environment have actually affected their body, not just how many years have passed. We read that pattern by sequencing your dog's DNA, and it's how we calculate biological age. It's the same aging science being used in human longevity research, applied to your dog.

Very. The blood longevity panel is processed by certified veterinary laboratories using the same clinical-grade standards your own vet relies on. The cellular aging test uses gene sequencing and DNA methylation analysis, a method grounded in peer-reviewed research that's become the accepted way to measure biological age in both people and animals. Omi was built with the world's leading pet longevity experts — which markers to include, how to score them, how to interpret what comes back — so what you see in the app is something you can trust.

Fair question, and we'll be candid. The core panel is built on established veterinary blood chemistry that vets have relied on for decades — kidney, liver, thyroid, metabolic markers are not controversial. The longevity layer, including biological age and some newer markers, comes out of active research in aging science, and we're upfront that this is a fast-moving field. That's exactly why we built Omi with the world's leading pet longevity experts, validate our framework with academic partners like Cornell, and re-test over time so you're looking at your dog's own trend rather than a single number in a vacuum.

Omi was developed with the world's leading pet longevity experts — the researchers actually pushing this field forward — including collaboration with Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine on our testing framework, and a founding team out of Harvard. Every marker on the panel, how it's scored, and how results are interpreted was designed with that expertise. Licensed veterinarians keep overseeing it: they review samples of the plans and chat answers the app produces, and what they flag gets fixed across the system rather than in one conversation. Inside the app, health guidance carries tappable citations, so we're showing our work rather than asking you to take "trust us" at face value.

Yes: you book a slot at one of our blood testing locations, and our licensed medical team draws a small sample, quick and routine, no more eventful than a normal checkup. It goes to our certified lab, and your results are in the app within five days. We handle the scheduling and walk you through the prep so it's smooth for both of you.

Completely. It's a cheek swab that takes about 30 seconds, and our team does it at your blood-draw appointment, right after the draw: no needles, no second visit, no stress. Most dogs barely register it, and a few seem convinced it's a new kind of treat. We seal the sample there and send it off for gene sequencing, so there's nothing for you to post and nothing waiting for you at home.

You don't — we do, and it all happens in one visit. You book a slot at one of our blood testing locations, where our licensed medical team draws the blood sample, and for founding members takes the cellular aging cheek swab straight afterwards. Both samples go to our labs from there. Nothing is shipped to you and there is nothing to collect at home; if you have a question before or after the visit, the in-app chat can walk you through it.

Your blood sample is analyzed and scored — every biomarker measured against preventive ranges — with results in the app within five days. If you are a founding member, your cellular aging swab goes through full gene sequencing for biological age, which takes a little longer. As each result comes back it's paired with plain-language explanations and an updated plan, built on veterinary-reviewed guidance, so you go from raw samples to a scored, explained, personalized plan without having to interpret a single number yourself.

Once a year. Your membership includes one blood biomarker test a year, and for founding members the cellular aging test runs on the same annual rhythm, swabbed at the same appointment. Dogs age far faster than we do, so a single year of their life carries a lot of change. The first test is your baseline; every one after it is the part that matters most, because it shows whether the changes you have made actually moved the numbers. That year-over-year trend is worth more than any single snapshot.

Your blood results are in the app within five days of your appointment. The cellular aging test takes longer (2 to 5 weeks) because it runs full gene sequencing on your dog's DNA, a deeper and more powerful analysis than a standard test. The moment anything is ready you'll get a notification, and your results will be waiting with plain-language explanations and an updated plan. Nothing shows up as a raw number with no context.

Everything lives in the Omi app. Register when you sign up, and your results link automatically to your dog's profile the moment they're ready — no chasing PDFs or logging into a lab portal. You'll get an email and an app notification the instant each result lands, with plain-language explanations and your updated plan right there next to it.

Right now Omi is available across the New York metro area, and we're rolling out to more of the country next year. The fastest way to be first in line where you live is to join the waitlist — we'll let you know the moment we reach your area.

You don't have to take it at all, and nothing gets shipped to you. Our team takes the cheek swab at your blood-draw appointment, right after the draw, so both samples are collected in the same visit and go to our labs together. Book the draw and that's the whole of it.

You get a personalized care plan inside the app — specific food adjustments, supplement guidance, exercise and lifestyle changes, all built from your dog's own scores. The AI vet chat walks you through what each result means and answers your follow-ups as they come up, so there's no decoding required. And when it's useful, Omi packages everything into vet-ready records so you can take the full picture to your own veterinarian. The whole point is that you leave with next steps, not a spreadsheet of numbers you have to interpret alone.

You won't be left staring at a scary number wondering what it means. Every flagged result comes with a clear explanation of what it is, whether it needs attention, and what to do next — and your action plan updates to reflect it. If something needs a professional eye, Omi prepares a vet-ready summary of exactly what turned up and what to ask about, so you can bring it straight to your veterinarian and act fast. We built this so that finding something early feels like an advantage, not an ambush.

First, take a breath — this is useful information, not a verdict. An older biological age means your dog's body is aging a little faster than the calendar says, and the good news is that a lot of what drives it (diet, weight, inflammation, activity, stress) is within your control. Your plan will point to the specific levers that matter for your dog, and because you re-test, you'll actually see whether those changes move the number back in the right direction. That's the difference between guessing and knowing.

This is one of the most common things we hear — people spend real money on premium food and supplements with no way to tell if any of it helps. Omi closes that loop. Your biomarkers and biological age give you a baseline, you make the change, and your next test shows whether it moved the needle. Instead of buying on faith, you're making decisions backed by your dog's own data.

It's a 24/7 chat that actually knows your dog. Rather than generic internet advice, it reads your dog's specific results, health history, and current question, and gives guidance trained on veterinary-reviewed data — with tappable citations so you can see where an answer comes from. When something should be seen by your own vet, it tells you plainly and helps you get ready for that visit. It's the midnight "should I be worried about this?" question, answered properly instead of by a search-result rabbit hole.

Yes — Omi is built for multi-dog homes. Each dog gets their own profile, biomarker history, and action plan, because a senior Lab and a two-year-old terrier are aging on completely different timelines and shouldn't get the same advice. Everything stays tailored to the individual dog.

It's one of the areas where Omi is most useful day to day. Your results feed a personalized plan with specific nutrition and supplement guidance built around what's actually happening inside your dog — so instead of cycling through elimination diets and guessing, you're working from data. If inflammatory markers are up or something points to a sensitivity, your plan reflects it. Worth being clear on one thing: Omi's panel is a longevity and internal-health read, not a standalone allergy test, so for a diagnosed allergy we prepare vet-ready records you can take to your vet rather than replacing that workup.

Yes. Metabolic and thyroid markers, inflammation, and overall biological age all feed into how your dog carries weight and how much energy they have — and all of it shows up in your results. Your plan turns that into concrete adjustments to food, portions, and activity, and re-testing shows whether it's working. It's the same logic as everything else in Omi: measure, adjust, measure again.

No, and we'll say that plainly. Your vet diagnoses and treats illness, and those visits are essential. Omi is what happens between visits: the longitudinal data that makes every appointment more informed, and the early-warning layer that helps you avoid the emergency ones. We even prepare vet-ready records and a briefing on what to ask about, so when you do go in, you walk in with real context and in control of the conversation. Your vet gets a better picture, and your dog gets better care for it.

Please do — we build Omi for exactly this. Omi prepares clean, vet-ready records of your dog's biomarker results and history, plus a short briefing on what to ask about and discuss at your appointment. You hand your vet the full picture and walk in already knowing what to raise — so you stay in control, and your vet gets far more context than a standard visit ever provides. Think of it as showing up with the cheat sheet already done.

Reactions range from enthusiastic to healthily skeptical, and we respect both. Plenty of veterinarians love having longitudinal data and a more informed owner in the room. Some, understandably, want to see more evidence behind newer longevity markers before they lean on them — and that's a reasonable position in a young field. Our take is that the standard panel is rock-solid, the longevity science is promising and improving, and having more data about your dog is better than having less, as long as it's interpreted responsibly.

Omi is $250 a year. That covers one blood biomarker test a year, your personalized action plan, the 24/7 AI vet chat, and the vet-ready records you can bring to your own veterinarian. Founding members also get our cellular aging test free, swabbed at the same appointment. It works out to under seventy cents a day, and it's a fraction of what a single emergency vet visit can run. The idea is to spend a little, consistently, so you're less likely to spend a lot in a crisis.

Only for founding members, and for them it's free. A standard $250 membership covers your annual blood biomarker test, your action plan, the AI vet chat, and your vet-ready records. The cellular aging test — the cheek swab we take at your blood-draw appointment to read your dog's biological age — is a founding-member perk we add at no extra cost. If you're not a founding member yet, joining the waitlist is how you get in line for one.

Honest answer: it depends on what you want from it. If you're happy reacting to problems as they appear, a yearly checkup may be enough. If you'd rather catch things while they're small, know whether your money on food and supplements is doing anything, and give your dog more good years, that's exactly what Omi is built for. A single serious diagnosis caught late can cost thousands and cost your dog time — Omi is the version where you saw it coming.

Yes. Omi is an annual membership because longevity only works with consistent tracking over time, but if your situation changes you can cancel and keep full access through the end of your current period. No games.

We're rolling Omi out to pet parents in waves before our full public launch, and early access is how you get in first. Join the waitlist and you'll get priority as memberships open, a front-row seat to new features, direct access to our team, and founding-member perks. We're adding members regularly, so the wait is short — and joining now is the best way to lock in your spot.

Yes — you climb the waitlist by referring friends, and it moves fast. Refer one friend and you jump to the top 2,000. Two friends puts you in the top 200. Three friends earns you immediate priority access and makes you a Founding Member. Share your link, help a few other dogs get healthier, and skip the line.

You'll get a confirmation, and then we'll keep you posted as we approach your access window — including when it's your turn to sign up and book testing. There's no obligation to buy; the waitlist just holds your place in line and gets you the earliest access. Refer a few friends and you'll move up it faster.

Yes — start with our free Health Quiz. It takes about five minutes, no credit card, and gives you an instant health score for your dog plus a starter action plan based on their breed, age, and lifestyle. It's a genuinely useful read on its own, and the natural next step for people who want the full biomarker picture.

Your dog's health data belongs to you. We use it to generate your results, your plan, and your in-app guidance — not to sell to third parties. You can share your records with your vet whenever you want, and you stay in control of who sees them.

Right now Omi is built specifically for dogs — the biomarker panels and the biological-age model are tuned to canine biology, and we'd rather do dogs excellently than do everything adequately. If you've got a cat you'd like us to cover, tell us; hearing the demand genuinely shapes what we build next.

Yes. The cellular aging swab is completely non-invasive, and the blood draw is the same small, routine collection done at a normal wellness visit, handled by our licensed medical team. There's nothing experimental happening to your dog — the science is in how we analyze and interpret the samples, not in how we collect them.

You can reach us right inside the app, or email the team at hello@omihealth.com. The AI vet chat is there 24/7, and when something should go to your own vet, it'll help you get ready for that conversation. We're a small team and we actually read what comes in.