Every dog and cat is at risk of becoming infected with worms. In Central Europe, roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms are the most common intestinal parasites. Some of these migrate from the intestine through other organs in the body. In addition, lungworms are playing an increasingly significant role.

Infection usually occurs through the ingestion of feces, grass, and prey such as mice or birds, as well as through intermediate hosts, such as fleas. The individual risk of a worm infestation therefore varies greatly. While some animals almost never become infected, others ingest new worm eggs almost every day. This depends, among other things, on age, lifestyle, and diet.

ESCCAP—an independent European organization that develops guidelines for managing parasites—therefore recommends a risk-based approach. Depending on their lifestyle, dogs and cats should either be dewormed at individually determined intervals or monitored through fecal examinations at the same intervals. The goal is to reduce the excretion of infectious worm eggs and thereby protect the health of both animals and humans. Some species of worms are zoonotic pathogens, which means they can be transmitted from animals to humans. Children and immunocompromised individuals are particularly at risk.

Instead of routine deworming, it is also possible to test a stool sample. This test specifically determines whether an animal is infected with worms. This helps prevent the unnecessary administration of medication. However, eggs are not excreted continuously, so even a fecal sample collected over three days may sometimes fail to detect a minor infestation. A negative test result therefore does not always definitively rule out a worm infestation.

Talk to your veterinarian about the specific interval and type of fecal exam your pet needs, as well as deworming. You can also find more information in our brochure “Advice & Assistance: Is There a Worm in It?”

We offer more than just comprehensive genetic screenings, such as the LABOGenetics XXL packages for dogs and cats. Our portfolio also includes breed-specific packages, as well as nearly all genetic tests, which are also available as individual tests.

Individual tests are particularly useful when an animal needs to be screened specifically for a certain hereditary disease or coat trait. This applies, for example, to symptomatic animals in which specific hereditary diseases need to be confirmed or ruled out, as well as to breeding animals that have not yet undergone a newly available genetic test. In some cases, it is even possible to analyze sample material that has already been stored, without the need to resubmit it.

With our individual tests, you’ll benefit from an affordable price and a particularly short testing time. Our range of individual tests is continually expanding and is always based on the latest scientific findings.

In addition, we are constantly making improvements to our existing tests. Among other things, this allows us to significantly reduce test runtimes even further. Current examples of this include tests for clopidogrel efficacy in cats, as well as tests for the MDR1 gene variant, CEA, and prcd-PRA in dogs.

This is how we ensure that you always benefit from fast and reliable genetic testing and that you can find the right test format for every question. If you’re still unsure which test is right for you, we’d be happy to recommend our decision-making guide to help you choose the right service:

Arterial thromboembolism (ATE) is a serious and often life-threatening complication in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) or other heart diseases. It occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) blocks an artery and thus interrupts the flow of blood to organs or limbs. The consequences are often severe tissue damage or infarctions.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common heart disease in cats. This causes the muscles of the left ventricle to thicken, making it harder for the heart to fill. This can lead to poor performance, shortness of breath, blood clots and, in the worst case, sudden cardiac death.

In addition to ultrasound examinations, specific genetic tests are available for some breeds: The HCM1 variant in the MYBPC3 gene has been described in the Maine Coon, the HCM3 variant in the MYBPC3 gene in the Ragdoll and the HCM4 variant in the ALMS1 gene in the Sphynx. These variants are considered high-risk factors that can provide an indication of the development of the disease even before the clinical signs appear. Nevertheless, severe, symptomatic forms of the disease usually only develop in combination with other genetic or environmental factors – a reliable prognosis of the clinical course is therefore not possible on the basis of genetic analyses alone. In addition, these are very breed-specific variants for which a correlation with the occurrence of the disease could only be proven in the breeds described in each case.

The evaluation of the samples submitted to us between 2012 and 2022 showed a significant decrease in the HCM3 allele frequency within the Ragdoll breed from 28.6 % to 4.3 %, which is probably due to breeding efforts. The current distribution of genotypes in the Ragdoll can be seen in the diagram opposite. In addition, we tested around 28,000 cats of various breeds – in particular British Shorthair, Maine Coon and Persian – for the Ragdoll variant HCM3. Outside of the Ragdoll breed, it only occurred in negligible numbers, although it is unclear whether there is a correlation with clinical symptoms. We therefore continue to recommend the HCM3 test exclusively for the Ragdoll breed.

Laboklin’s laboratory results are sent exclusively as PDF files, which are digitally signed and protected against editing. This ensures that the content cannot be changed unnoticed after it has been created. The digital signature confirms the authenticity of the document and proves that it actually originates from Laboklin.

These security measures meet high technical standards and offer reliable protection against manipulation. So you can be sure: When you receive a signed PDF, it has been transmitted unchanged and truthfully.

Despite these high security precautions, fraud can unfortunately never be completely ruled out. We therefore recommend that you only accept findings from trustworthy sources and, if in doubt, contact Laboklin directly. Especially when it comes to important decisions on health care, mating or the purchase of an animal, it is crucial that you can rely on the accuracy and authenticity of the findings.

For data protection reasons, we are not permitted to provide information about the findings of other customers or clients. However, we can confirm the authenticity of an existing finding if there is reasonable doubt.

With these measures, we want to offer you the greatest possible security and transparency – so that you can rely on the accuracy of the results.