Basepaws provided me with a pet DNA test for review and inclusion in my holiday gift guide. All opinions are my own.
After our elderly pugs passed away (almost 5 years ago already!) we knew it would be a while before we were ready for another pet. About 3 years ago we started to feel ready for another pet, but not a dog. We started reading about cat breeds, and we both liked the temperment that Maine Coons typically have, as they’re really cuddly, affectionate cats usually. We have a small place though, so we didn’t think the gigantic size of a Maine Coon would be ideal for this tiny apartment.
We ended up getting our cat Pepperoni from my mom. My mom had allowed a stray cat to become her pet, and she had no idea that the cat was pregnant until the babies arrived! So of course, then she had to find homes for the kittens and we ended up taking one. Of course, given her history and her mom’s history, we had no way of guessing what Pepperoni’s breed was. We knew most cats are simply labeled as domestic short, medium or long hair. She’s long haired so we expected her to primarily be domestic long hair. However, we have always periodically thought about how Pepperoni, ironically has some features that look like a Maine coon cat! Yet, she’s stayed far too small to actually be a maine coon. She’s only about 9lbs now that she’s fully grown. Still, we wondered if she could be part maine coon. I also came across information about Norwegian forest cats one day and noticed she looked a bit like those as well.
So, when I learned that Basepaws lets you test your cats DNA, I was so intrigued! I wanted to find out if she really could be part maine coon or norwegan forest cat! We took the Basepaws Breed + Health DNA kit.
Basepaws sends you a swab and a vile of fluid. You want to ensure your pet hasn’t eaten anything for a while prior to swabbing them, and you want to try to swab their cheeks and their teeth. I am not in the habit of touching Pepperoni’s mouth in any way, so I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to swab her mouth or teeth. I was surprised at how well she tolerated it! She wasn’t the biggest fan, but she didn’t get too upset, she just would slightly pull away but if I waited a second and tried again, she’d tolerate it again for a few seconds. I had initially told my husband I might require his help, but I didn’t! I was able to hold her with one hand and swab her with the other. It requires two people to trim her nails, for comparison! So, you might be surprised at how well your cat tolerates swabbing.
I followed the instuctions for securing and returning the kit. Once the kit is received in the mail, they’ll email you to let you know. It takes another couple of weeks for them to sequence the DNA. Then once it’s done, you get another email and can go on their website and see the break down.
Here are Pepperoni’s results:
As expected, most of Pepperoni’s DNA was a pretty general result. “Broadly western” is a category that Basepaw uses to describe cats whose DNA is most similar to western breeds, meaning any of the others that you see listed in the ‘Western’ category. Outside of that, her highest DNA percentage is, in fact, Maine Coon! Only 13%, but that was really cool to see that we aren’t totally wackadoo for thinking she looked a little Maine Coon! I was surprised that she also is almost 10% American short hair, as she is a longhaired cat. I also found it interesting that she didn’t have any detectable Norwegian forest cat.
It was neat to get her DNA confirmed! The test also looks at some health markers. Hers didn’t really flag anything health wise, but here is an example of what it looks like. These are just a few of MANY that they tested for. I thought it was cool that they tested for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome because I have that! The health portion of our test looked at musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, eye disorders, metabolic disorders, blood disorders, endocrine disorders, autoimmune disorders, renal disorders, skin disorders, and cardiovascular disorders.
They also look at your cats genetics to predict what fur colors and fur types they’re likely to have. When making your Basepaw account, you can fill out information like this about your cat, but I didn’t. They determined these based on the sample we sent in.
I thought it was neat that she carries traits for brown fur, and diluted fur in general. When we got her as a kitten, she looked almost purely black but as she’s gotten older she has several spots that are more of a brown, and others that are gray, which makes sense based on her being a carrier of chocolate and dilute!
The test also looks at your cat’s oral health. This is where we got some bad news. Pepperoni shows high risk of dental issues. This surprised me, as she’s only 2.5 years old. We don’t brush her teeth but she eats some dry food daily (we also feed her some wet food but not enough to keep her full so that she’ll eat dry food which is better for their teeth). I know most cats end up with dental issues in older age but I wouldn’t have expected this so young. So, I’m glad we know to keep a close eye on that now!
If you have a pet lover on your list, consider getting them a Basepaws pet DNA test kit! They have kits for dogs too, of course. They also have some other options, such as a kit that only tests oral health, and their whole genome sequence test which goes extremely in depth looking at genetic health conditions a cat might have.
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
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