DNA tests for cats and dogs: one kit?

You've got a cat and two dogs all with unknown backgrounds — and you want to run DNA tests on all three without juggling multiple companies. That's a very reasonable thing to want, but I should be upfront: most pet DNA providers only cover one species, which makes this trickier than it sounds. DNA tests for dogs have become genuinely accurate — breed composition is solid, trait data is useful, and some health screening is available, though quality varies between providers and none of it replaces proper vet testing. Cat DNA testing is improving but is less mature than dog testing overall. Are you mainly after breed information, health markers, or both — and are the health results something you'd act on proactively, or more for general curiosity?

That helps a lot. If breed discovery is the priority and you want a single provider covering both species, Basepaws is the one company that does both dogs and cats with a reasonable level of credibility. Their cat test in particular is the most established on the market. For the dogs, their breed database is smaller than Embark or Wisdom Panel, so if the dogs are unusual mixed breeds you may get less granular results — but for most rescues with typical mixed backgrounds it does a decent job. What are the dogs like physically? Size, rough build, anything you've noticed? That helps me tell you whether Basepaws is likely to give you useful breed data or whether you'd be better off splitting — Embark for the dogs and Basepaws for the cat.

Honestly, a possible sighthound mix is exactly where a smaller breed database can let you down — Basepaws may flag Greyhound or Whippet ancestry but with less confidence than Embark would. That said, since breed information is for curiosity rather than medical decisions, and keeping things under one roof matters to you, I'd still lean toward Basepaws for all three. The convenience trade-off is worth it when you're not making health decisions based on the results. The product I'd point you to is the Basepaws Breed + Health DNA Test — they sell separate kits for dogs and cats, so you'd order two dog kits and one cat kit, but it's the same company, same portal, and results all land in one account. You can find the dog version and the cat version on Amazon UK — search 'Basepaws dog DNA test' and 'Basepaws cat DNA test' and both come up. Just bear in mind turnaround is typically four to six weeks per kit.

Yes — all three use a simple cheek swab, same process for dogs and cats. You rub the swab inside the cheek for about thirty seconds, let it air-dry briefly, then seal and post it. The only practical tip: do it before feeding, not after, so there's no food residue interfering with the sample. Cats can be a little more resistant to having something in their mouth, so having a second person to hold them gently can help. But it's the same kit format and the same instructions across species, which is one of the nicer things about using a single provider.

You're welcome. To recap: Basepaws Breed + Health DNA Test, two dog kits and one cat kit, all results in one account. Results in around four to six weeks. If the sighthound mix results come back vague and you want more detail on that dog specifically, Embark is worth considering as a follow-up — but for a first pass across all three, Basepaws is the most practical choice.