A genetic test can, in principle, be conducted from the birth of an animal, as the genetic information is unchangeably fixed at this time. Therefore, the result of a genetic test remains valid throughout the animal's lifetime.

A blood sample can generally be taken at around 6-8 weeks of age, depending on the dog breed and your veterinarian's recommendation. A cheek swab can usually be performed on very young puppies. It is important to ensure that nursing puppies are separated from their mother for at least 1-2 hours before the swab is taken to ensure that the sample does not contain maternal cells.

The most suitable material is an EDTA complete blood sample taken by your veterinarian. Your vet keeps a stock of suitable tubes at their offices. A cheek swab, i.e. a swab from the animal's oral mucosa, is just as suitable as a blood sample for dogs and cats. f you like, we can send you appropriate swab brushes free of charge. The animal's breeder or owner can take the cheek swab himself. However, we recommend having the swab taken by your vet, since he can confirm the animal's identity and therefore also officially evaluate the result of a genetic test. This may be important if selling puppies at a later date, for example. For horses, in addition to a blood sample, hair from the mane and tail with hair roots is also suitable for a DNA test.

If you like, we can send you cheek swab sampling kits free of charge. The sampling kit consists of a soft cotton swab that can be screwed into a corresponding transport tube. You can request these kits by telephone, the order page, the contact form or email. All we need to ship them is your postal address and the number of sampling kits you would like.

A genetic test is one of the most reliable laboratory tests, with a test accuracy of >99%. Test accuracy is always based on the mutation to be detected and not on the clinical picture. A result obtained from a cheek swab is just as reliable as a result from a blood sample. In rare cases, it is possible that no result can be obtained from a cheek swab because the DNA content is too low. In such cases, we recommend sending another EDTA blood sample or an additional cheek swab. There will be no charge for the swab that could not be evaluated.