WIRED tested popular at-home cat DNA kits Basepaws and Wisdom Panel, finding that results can differ dramatically depending on sample sizes and comparison databases. The tests can provide useful health and trait information, but their breed and ancestry findings are not always definitive, raising questions about whether they justify their cost.

Wisdom Panel costs $97, identifies more than 70 breeds or populations, screens for 45 health conditions and 25 traits, and reports blood type, transfusion risk and a family tree; results arrived within three weeks. Basepaws costs $104, tests for up to 21 breeds, 64 health markers and 50 traits, and includes oral-health information, but took five weeks—or ten after a failed sample—and presented its findings in a less accessible PDF. Both cats tested had type A blood and moderate transfusion risk, while one mixed-breed tabby was largely classified as a domestic cat.