Orivet Genetic Pet Care has updated its Dog DNA Health Screen to check for more than 50 additional inherited conditions, such as glaucoma, muscular dystrophy and epilepsy.
The collection kits are marketed to veterinarians, dog owners and breeders as a means to detect heightened health risks and promote their early treatment. More than 150 canine diseases and traits can be identified through cheek swabs that are collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis, Orivet reported.
“Using DNA testing to identify health conditions before they present themselves can help pet owners be more proactive with their pet’s health,” said Orivet CEO Noam Pik, BVSc, BVMS, MBA. “Personalized medicine is the next major development in veterinary medicine, and for pet owners it can allow for better preventative treatment plans, cost savings with needed treatments and an improvement in a pet’s health over its lifetime.”
Among the other conditions that might be identified, according to Orivet, are:
- POMC: A genetic mutation associated with overeating and weight gain.
- Altitude adaptation: A gene variant that regulates the production of hemoglobin in the blood.
- May-Hegglin anomaly: A blood platelet disorder that causes the formation of large platelets and defects of the white blood cells.
- Hereditary nephropathy: A genetic kidney disease caused by mutations resulting in the loss of select collagen chains.
Ramsey, New Jersey-based Orivet also manufactures genetic DNA testing kits for cats.