DNA test · Breed health panel · Embark · Wisdom Panel
By The Pawline veterinary teamVeterinary-reviewed by Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 25 July 2026
Genetic panels report predisposition, not diagnosis — carrying a variant is not the same as having the disease. Their two genuinely actionable uses are drug-safety variants like MDR1, which change medication choices today, and informed breeding decisions.
Consumer and veterinary DNA panels now screen for well over 200 genetic variants at modest cost. They can be genuinely valuable — but only if read with a clear understanding of what a genetic result is and, more importantly, what it is not.
Genetic panels report predisposition, not diagnosis — a variant is a probability about the future, not a statement about the present.
Predisposition is not diagnosis
This is the governing principle. A genetic result describes a probability about the future, not a statement about the present. Several distinctions matter:
Carrier vs affected. For recessive conditions, a carrier has one copy and will never develop the disease — the result matters for breeding, not for the animal's own health. Only "at risk"/"affected" (two copies) genotypes carry personal risk.
Incomplete penetrance. Even an "at risk" genotype often does not guarantee disease. Many variants confer increased likelihood, not certainty, and some dogs with the genotype live normal lives.
Breed-specific validation. A variant validated in one breed may not carry the same meaning in another, and panels sometimes report variants outside the breeds in which they were studied. This is a recognised weakness of broad consumer panels.
Because of all this, a genetic panel result should never be treated as a diagnosis, and should not by itself trigger treatment. Where a result suggests real risk, confirmation with clinical testing — imaging, bloods, or a validated diagnostic test — is the proper next step.
Where genetic testing is genuinely actionable
Two uses stand out as clearly worthwhile:
1. Drug-safety variants — the strongest case.MDR1 (ABCB1) is the standout: dogs with this variant cannot clear certain drugs from the brain and can suffer severe, occasionally fatal reactions to otherwise-routine medications, including some parasite treatments, sedatives and chemotherapy agents. It is common in herding breeds (Collies, Australian Shepherds, Shelties and crosses). Knowing a dog's MDR1 status changes prescribing decisions today — the clearest example of a genetic result with immediate practical value.
2. Breeding decisions. Identifying carriers lets breeders avoid producing affected offspring — the original and still most defensible purpose of genetic screening.
Other frequently-reported variants include degenerative myelopathy (SOD1) — where penetrance is notably incomplete and many at-risk dogs never develop signs; progressive retinal atrophy; von Willebrand disease (a bleeding disorder, worth knowing before surgery); and, in cats, polycystic kidney disease (PKD1) and the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy variants of Maine Coons and Ragdolls.
Cat vs dog
Panels exist for both, with the canine market considerably larger. Feline testing focuses on a smaller set of well-characterised conditions — PKD, HCM variants, blood type — where the clinical value is relatively clear. Breed-ancestry results, popular in both species, are entertainment rather than medicine and should not be used to infer health risk.
About the reference range
This page shows no range strip. Genetic results are genotypes (clear / carrier / at risk), not numeric values with a reference band — one reason Pawline's parser records the printed result verbatim and never infers a genotype. Read results against the interpretation supplied by the testing laboratory.
What to do next
Treat a genetic panel as a map of possibilities, not a diagnosis. The results worth acting on immediately are drug-safety variants — if you have a herding-breed dog, MDR1 status is genuinely worth knowing before any medication is prescribed. For disease-risk variants, discuss with your vet what (if any) monitoring is sensible, and confirm anything concerning with proper clinical testing rather than acting on the DNA result alone.
This page is educational and is not a diagnosis. Lab results are interpreted in the full clinical context by your veterinary surgeon; a single value rarely tells the whole story.
