Basepaws: Feline DNA Testing

It's no surprise that we love our fur babies. Half of women and nearly a third of men say "I love you" to their cat’s multiple times per day, according a survey conducted by Purina and many cat owners are likely to show their pawed pals some extra love. It's well documented that our furry feline friends make our lives better and generally brighten our mood each day. They can also help lower blood pressure, and cat owners have been shown to have higher self-esteem than those without cats in their lives. Our furry friends make our lives better every day, so it makes purrr-fect sense that since our four legged family members bring us so much happiness and make us feel good.  Basepaws is an at-home, feline-specific genetic test.

Basepaws which was recently featured on Shark Tank and made deals with two investors allows you to learn about breed and ancestry markers that are present in your cat’s DNA explaining the physical traits are in your cat’s genes. So, if you’ve ever wondered where your cat gets the extra fluffiness in his or her tail, now you can find out! Using what we currently know, Basepaws can tell you how closely related your cat is to select cat breeds and wildcats. Later in the year you will get updates including your cat’s health and wellness report, information about their distant ancestral roots, discover maternal/paternal tracing, siblings test, personality prediction, catnip-addict likelihood, physical traits and fun facts!

Basepaws gets DNA from your cat’s cheek cells that rub off onto a cotton swab. When your cheek swab arrives at our Los Angeles facility, we take the DNA out of it with a chemical extraction process. Your cat’s DNA contains more than 20,000 genes, which are spelled out in a unique genetic code that is around 2,700,000,000 letters (nucleotide bases) long. Basepaws takes this DNA and uses sequencing machines to read and record these letters. Basepaws uses your cat’s information to generate an easy-to-read report about their DNA. We will continue to update your cat’s report as we learn more. Once you are part of the Basepaws community you will get constant updates from us as we have new discoveries about the genetics of your cat.Your cat’s first report will include useful information about their breed and an interesting similarity to wildcats. Here is an example of the first personalized Basepaws report that you will receive: https://cdn.basepaws.com/report/sample.html.

In addition to your cat’s personalized report the Basepaws kit includes: membership in the Basepaws community, report updates, personalized recommendations, access to the latest research on cat science, tools to connect owners of similar cats, and discounts on future products that will be specifically formulated for your cat’s genetic needs receiving constant updates. You can also look forward to updates later in the year including:

· Health Report: Discover if your cat's genetics influences their risk for certain health conditions, or if their DNA is carrying a genetic disorder and any health and wellness risks that may be present in your cat’s DNA. Genetic health risks and diseases, carrier status (32 diseases).

· Wellness Report: You will receive tailored assessments and recommendations based on your cat's genetics including diet recommendations.

· Ancestry: You can look forward to receiving updates about your cat's ancestry. Learn about their Breed, as well as their distant ancestral roots. The Alpha Report includes 32 cat breeds and 14 wild cats.

· You will also discover maternal/paternal tracing, siblings test, personality prediction, catnip-addict likelihood, physical traits and fun facts!




As a pet owner, you want to know as much information as possible about any potential health risks for your beloved cat. With knowledge from your cat’s genetics, you can make more informed decisions about their healthcare needs earlier—possibly mitigating or even preventing illness down the road.

Our Thoughts

When I was approached with this review I immediately wanted to participate! My family has had cats as far back as I can remember. I grew up with a long-haired cat who had been an "oops" out of a barn cat that decided to have her babies in the chicken coop feed room. But we always wondered what breeds she actually was because she obviously was a mix of this and that. 

Our current kitty is 13 and he is a registered ragdoll, but as we found out when we did a DNA test on our registers Australian Cattle Dog, sometimes that doesn't mean a whole lot depending on the registry. We were excited to take Julius' sample and send it off, not that we questioned that he is pure breed, but because we were excited to help build a database and hopefully learn more about what we can expect health wise with him in the future. 

Taking the sample was simple. The kit comes with a swab that looks like a large q-tip. One of us held Julius while the other stuck the swab in his cheek and rubbed for the required time. We then follow the preservation directions, closed up the box and shipped it off. Then the waiting started. 

We signed up for email notifications on the DNA which allowed us to follow the process. When the DNA was received, we got an email. The wait time on the DNA sequencing was supposed to be about 8 weeks; we received the DNA report exactly 8 weeks after submission. I was impressed with this because I knew that the base of the DNA database might be limited. 

The DNA test came back with Julius being 99.21% ragdoll. Again, we weren't surprised by this result but it was very interesting to read the report that came with the results. It was in depth but easy to understand. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the reports that Basepaws will be coming out with! I will absolutely do this again with a cat if nothing else, than to have an idea of possible health concerns. 

If you are interested in having your cat DNA tested because you are curious, click here to go to the Basepaws Website. You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Holiday Gift Guide - Give Them Their DNA This Holiday Season

Your loved one can uncover their ethnic mix by going back multiple generations, discover close or distant relatives from our over 1 million other users, and find new details about their family history, all with a simple saliva sample.  It is a gift that offers continuous experiences for years. This small box will bring you family history going back centuries.

Visit AncestryDNA For More Information

My Thoughts 

AncestryDNA is such an amazing opportunity to learn about your heritage.  My father was adopted and has been unable to locate any information on this biological parents. I know I'm Italian on my mother's side, but his side is a huge black hole. Am I German? Irish? Based on coloring I assume we're some form of European, but it would be amazing to find out for sure, and AncestryDNA is giving me a chance to do just that.

I got to test out AncestryDNA and it was way easier than I expected. They sent me a little packet with a tube. You fill it with saliva to the indicted line and send it back in the pre-addressed box. A few days after I sent it in, I got a reply that my DNA was being processed. It does take several weeks to get the results, but while I wait, I've been exploring the website. When my results come back, not only will  it give me an idea of where my ancestors derive from, it can also match me up with other online users who I may be related to! I'm really excited to get my results.   

All in all, even though I haven't gotten my final results yet, I am very impressed with AncestryDNA.com. The system was fun and easy to use, and I'm sure I'll learn a few things about my family that I didn't know before. There's also plenty to explore at Ancestry.com.  It's exciting to have so much information at your finger tips and to be able to see things like your grandparents marriage license or the signature from when your great-parents arrived on Ellis Island. I definitely plan on searching for more in the months to come. Like they always say in their commercials, you don't need to know what you're looking for. You just need to start looking.

Learn What a DNA Test Can and Can’t Tell You

Besides determining whom a child’s mother and father are, there are a number of other uses for DNA testing. There are some parts of DNA that remain unaltered as they are passed from child to child, but there are other parts that go through a drastic transformation. While you won’t be able to unearth your entire family tree through a DNA test, you can find out a great deal about your family history.

The Specifics

Specifically, a DNA test can be used to:

·         Determine who you’re related to

·         Disprove or prove any research that you’ve done about your family history

·         Offer clues about your ethnic roots

·         Find out if two people are related either to each other or to an ancestor

The way that DNA tests work is that you collect a sample of cells from the inside of your mouth with a cheek swap before sending the swab off to be analyzed at an accredited testing center – learn more at http://www.homedna.com/faq.html.

Legal Paternity

If a mother is seeking child support from the father of her child, a DNA test can be of great help to her paternity suit if she decides to bring one against the alleged father. DNA testing can also help the father if he is requesting visitation rights to see his child. 

Inheritance and Biological Parents

A DNA test might also be used if there is a question of who is eligible to receive an inheritance should known or unknown children of a deceased person enter the picture to claim an inheritance.  

Something else that a DNA test can tell you is who your biological parents are if you are adopted or conceived through a donor conception. A similar scenario is if your parents were divorced while you were young and you were raised by your stepfather you might want to find out who your biological father is.

Narrow Your Focus

If you plan to use a DNA test for something other than paternity, it’s best that you narrow down your focus to one specific question. For instance, you might want to know whether or not you and individuals in other states who share the same last name are related. In this situation you would have to gather several males who have the same last name as you and compare the final results of the DNA test. If there’s a match, you’ll be able to determine that all of you share a common ancestor, but you would not be able to find out which specific ancestor it is that you all share. One way to narrow things down would be to have additional family members tested.

If you plan on testing your DNA and no one else’s, you should know that you won’t be able to find out very much information about who your ancestors are. The best way to put your DNA test results to greater use is to have them compared to the results of population studies and the results of other individuals. Another option is for you to put your test results into an online DNA database. There are some testing companies that will inform you if you have any DNA markers that match those of anyone else in their database.     

Life Insurance and Social Security Benefits

If a father dies before legal paternity can be determined, a DNA test can help with life insurance and social security claims. Under these circumstances, a court order would allow a medical examiner to take a DNA sample and test it at an accredited laboratory. When done this way, the claimant doesn’t have to use any other means to provide the courts with proof that there was a biological relationship between them and their father.

Understanding DNA Tests

If you choose to have a Y-chromosome DNA test, your sample will be tested at a variety of different points known as markers or loci and studied for the number of times those markers or loci repeat themselves. Once you get your Y-chromosome DNA test results back, the number on it indicates the number of times a pattern was repeated on a marker.

With a mitochondrial DNA test, two regions of DNA that you received from your mother will be tested. There’s a reference sequence that your DNA will be compared to before any differences will be noted on the results.   

While DNA tests are mainly used to determine who a child’s biological mother and father are, there are several other reasons that you might want to think about getting your DNA tested.