Base Paws cant be right

[Thekraken]

So my vet sigestted I get a DNA test on my cat because hes 9 months old and 14 lbs. Just want to make sure hes the apropriate weight for his age based on his breed.

Base paws says hes predominantly Ragdoll and has some Bengal. I dont see it. What do you guys think?

 

[Maurey]

Basepaws is a scam, they say so right on their website that they’re not a breed ID test because most cats aren’t of a breed or mix of breeds.

He’s a black tabby DSH, no particular breed. I’d go based off his body condition score to assess whether he’s at a proper weight. Might be spotted tabby with a lot of fused spots, rather than mackerel, but hard to tell without seeing the spine lines.

he looks like he might be overweight to me, but it’s hard to judge from a photo, and it’s uncommon for young cats to be overweight.

 

[Thekraken]

Here are some pictures to show off his spots and spine lines.

 

[GoldyCat]

I don't see any Ragdoll or Bengal in him. He looks like your basic Brown Mackerel Tabby DSH (Comestic Shorthair).

I wouldn't trust Base Paws for an accurate assessment at this time. They're a fairly new company and are mainly in the process of collecting information.

A friend sent her cat's DNA to them just for fun. This is a purebred cat with a 5-generation pedigree. Base Paws came back with two unrelated breeds and none of the actual breed.

As far as weight goes, the number of pounds doesn't mean a lot. In his pictures he looks to me like he's in proportion to his length, not too fat, not to thin. You can expect him to be a very large cat when he full grown. Larger cat tend to keep growing for 2-4 years. Smaller cats may gain their full adult growth within a year to 18 months.

ETA: I just saw your new pictures. The pattern could be described as either spotted or broken mackerel. The main difference between the two is how random the spots are.

What is his name?

 

[Maurey]

The main difference between the two is how random the spots are.

It depends on spine lines, randomness has nothing to do with it, to my knowledge. Broken mackerel never affects the spine lines OPs cat has spots down the spine, even though they’re largely fused, so the cat is spotted.

 

[cataholic07]

Please post the basepaws report, if it's an old one only go based on the most likely or confident part. Or what was the percentage of the breeds? If it's anything under 50% your cat won't look like the breed at all. A bengal would have extremely high energy, you would know if your cat had bengal in them due to the cray cray lol

Basepaws isn't a scam. They let you know that they aren't really a breed ID and that it's more based on the attributes of your cat versus your cat actually having those breeds in them. It's more for genetic testing for health and research for cat health. Your vet should know better, but probably doesnt understand that most cats have zero breeds in them. All moggies lol. You always go based on body condition score and not any breed anyways as every cat is different in terms of size. If you can't feel his ribs or spine easily, he is overweight.

 

[Meowmee]

So my vet sigestted I get a DNA test on my cat because hes 9 months old and 14 lbs. Just want to make sure hes the apropriate weight for his age based on his breed.

Base paws says hes predominantly Ragdoll and has some Bengal. I dont see it. What do you guys think?

He is gorgeous I would say dsh spotted brown tabby. I am surprised that your dvm suggested the test instead of just assessing him for being over weight, maybe he did that as well.

Many say the tests are not reliable to show a specific breed and have had errors with known pb pedigree cats.

A cat could have a breed in their background somewhere and still not have any of the breed characteristics. If anything he would obviously look closer to a bengal than a ragdoll. His ears and head look big though and his face is rounded, he looks more dsh to me.

 

[Willowy]

I will say that I've known mixed-breed dogs, with known purebred parentage, who look NOTHING like the breeds that mixed to get them, lol. But I don't know if cats are the same, and most cats don't have any breed heritage at all so it seems unlikely. He's gorgeous!