Best Place To Have Genetic Testing Done

ameezers

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Who did you use to do your genetic testing for your cats?

My vet doesn't do it and neither did my old vet they suggested catDNAtest.org, animalsdna.com and easydna.ca (but they only test for PKD)

Someone else suggested UC Davis.. Any thoughts?
 

abyeb

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I haven’t had my cat DNA tested, but I’ve heard that UC Davis is terrific for genetic testing. They’re one of the best vet schools in the country, so I imagine their results would be very trustworthy.
 

posiepurrs

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I think it depends on what test you are having done. When the DNA test for PKD came out, UCDavis was the gold standard since the test was developed there. I think my next testing will be done through the CatDNAtest.org. They offer a few more tests such for about the same price. I know my new boy, Sterling is negative for health issues, but I plan to test him to see if he carries a dilute gene.
 
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ameezers

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I live in Canada so the exchange rate is crazy! UC Davis would be over $300 for two tests per cat with the exchange rate, where as catDNAtest would be $178 for all cats with plus you get more tests done...

I don't mind spending the extra money if one is better than the other, but if they are both good companies I would rather spend the extra money else where.

People weren't lying when they said that breeding is a VERY expensive hobby!

Also do you guys normally do a stool sample test prior to giving the kittens wormer or do you just give it to them? (I did the ova and parasite with giardia test for my kittens and everything came back negative, vet said to test them shortly before going to their new homes)
 

lutece

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It depends on what you are testing. I always use UC Davis but I don't have a long list of things to test. If you need to do a more comprehensive panel it would make sense to go with catDNAtest since they bundle the tests together. I have never used catDNAtest so I don't know how quickly they get back to you with the results... UC Davis is very quick (just a few days) which is good when making decisions about kittens.
 
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ameezers

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Well we just sent out the swabs to UC Davis. Had some issues with purolator and the address even though it was the correct one. So fingers crossed it makes it there!

Ended up just doing the CEP290, GM1, MPSVI for each cat as those were the only tests I could find relating to the breed.
 
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