DNA Panels for Your Pet: Are They Worth It?

DNA Panels for Your Pet: Are They Worth It?

               DNA panels for dogs and cats have become quite popular.  They can be useful in determining whether a dog or cat is purebred as promised or what breeds might make up the lovable adopted mutt.  But, are they accurate? And, what other information might we gain by doing genetic testing on our dogs or cats? Let’s learn more about what’s behind DNA testing for pets.

               Genes are responsible for all the physical traits both humans and animals display such as eye color, coat color, etc..  But genes may also be responsible for various diseases and other traits.  Knowing what colors, height, tail length, etc. a pet may possess can be fun and may be useful if you are trying to breed dogs or cats to attain certain traits that alter how they look or act.  However, knowing the underlying genetics that may be responsible for whether or not a dog or cat will develop a genetic disease can also be very useful not only in choosing mates to prevent expression of genetic diseases but maybe also in understanding the likelihood of your pet developing certain diseases.

               Genetic material is easily collected by using a small brush to swab the inside of your pet’s cheek to collect DNA.  This DNA is then sent to one of several labs such as Wisdom or Embark. Looking at a mixed breed dog or cat, we can only guess as to what breeds may be lurking in those blue eyes (husky?), shaggy coat (shepherd?) or floppy ears (hound?). But knowing which breeds are in your pet’s background may help explain certain behaviors or traits that your pet exhibits and may help determine other factors like size, temperament or energy level.

               DNA testing can tell us not only what breeds are in your pet’s background, but also examine a whole variety of genetic abnormalities that may affect your pet’s health.  Diseases like various forms of retinal atrophy, congenital myasthenia gravis, dilated cardiomyopathy, hemophilia, MDR1 sensitivity, and diseases like polycystic kidney disease or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats as well as hundreds of other disorders may also be uncovered by DNA panels.  This information may help inform us of potential disease risks. In some cases, if only one gene is inherited, a dog or cat may not develop disease but could be a carrier if bred to another animal with the same trait.  In other cases, if a dominant gene is present or if both genes are inherited, the chance of developing disease may be higher.  This may be especially helpful when breeding dogs and cats to reduce disease inheritance and risk.  Genetic testing can also confirm parental lineage in purebred dogs or cats.

                While these tests may provide some fun information on potential breeds and some useful information about disease risk, results must be viewed with some scrutiny.  Breed accuracy varies among labs and inheritance of one or more genes suggesting risk for disease should not be viewed as an absolute that your pet will develop that disease.  True accuracy of results is unknown, and more independent reviews and studies are needed.  Finding out what breeds may make up your pet’s background may be fun and learning that your pet is potentially at risk (or not!) for certain illnesses may be useful.  Bu, at the very least, results pointing to any disease risk should be further explored with more specific testing and should not be viewed as an absolute that a pet will develop that disease. Use these tests with caution and view them more as interesting information than then end all-be all of your pet’s health and genetic make-up.  

               This blog brought to you by the Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York and the surrounding communities.

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/262/5/javma.23.07.0372.xml

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00335-011-9365-z?li=true.-pdf.html

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/riney-canine-health-center/canine-health-information/benefits-canine-dna-testing