Genetic testing has transformed the ability to detect heritable conditions in companion animals before breeding, enabling welfare-conscious breeding decisions that reduce hereditary disease.
Genetic testing for heritable welfare conditions enables responsible breeders to make informed decisions that reduce the probability of producing affected offspring. Testing clears breeding animals from being carriers of specific recessive mutations, reducing the transmission of conditions like progressive retinal atrophy, exercise-induced collapse, and degenerative myelopathy. However, genetic testing addresses only single-gene conditions — polygenic conditions including hip dysplasia and some cancers require population-level trait selection over multiple generations. Structural conformational problems in brachycephalic breeds require breed standard reform rather than individual genetic testing.