I Took an At-Home Pet DNA Test Kit and Found Out My Cat Is a Cat

An at-home cator dog DNA test kit promises to give pet owners clarity on a heap of important health data, like breed ancestry, blood type, and health risks. To access this info, owners just swab the inside of their pet’s mouth, seal the sample in a prepaid-postage envelope, and wait (for up to five weeks) for results to be sent to their inbox. Each company has a testing lab, and the results live in your online account, where they can be downloaded and even shared with your vet.

But because of several factors, such as sample size and comparison, these tests often give dramatically different results for things like genetic ancestry and breed traits (more on that below).

I tested several at-home DNA test kits, including two of the most popular kits—Basepaws ($104)andWisdom Panel ($97)—on my two adult cats and talked to several animal experts to get insights into these tests—and whether they are worth your money, given the large disparity in results. Think of this as the WIRED guide to the increasingly popular at-home pet DNA test.

Table of Contents

Be sure to check out our related guides, like theBest Automatic Cat Feeders,Best Automatic Litter Boxes,Best Automatic Cat Fountains, andBest Dog Accessories.

Jump to

• How Does a DNA Test Kit Work?
• What the Results Can—and Can’t—Tell You
• A Note on At-Home Allergy Testing Kits
• Meet the Experts