Turning a PawPeds Pedigree into a Digital Pedigree: How It Works

Many breeders of pedigree cats, and of a number of dog breeds, look up their animals' ancestry in PawPeds. That pedigree is online, but it is not next to your advert, and buyers do not see photos of the ancestors or an overview of all their test results in one place. On Nestjes you turn such a PawPeds pedigree into a digital pedigree in a few minutes: you save it as a PDF, upload it with your animal and then complete it with photos and health tests. This article explains step by step how that works and why it helps buyers.

Want to know first what a pedigree does and does not say? Read cat pedigrees explained. Which tests belong with parent animals is explained in health tests for pedigree cats and health tests for parent dogs. And if you are planning a litter, breeding a litter responsibly is a good place to start.

What is PawPeds?

PawPeds is a website with pedigree databases and health programmes for breeders and owners. Most databases cover cat breeds, such as the Maine Coon, the Norwegian Forest Cat, the Ragdoll and the British Shorthair, but there are also databases for a few dog breeds. PawPeds also keeps the results of health programmes. For example, an international screening and breeding programme for heart muscle disease in cats runs through PawPeds; it started in 2004 and has cats examined with an ultrasound of the heart. The hip dysplasia programme for the Maine Coon is administered by PawPeds as well.

Why a digital pedigree on Nestjes?

A pedigree shows which registered ancestors an animal descends from. According to the LICG, a pedigree can also reveal known hereditary risks in the lines. The LICG advises buyers to look at the pedigree and to ask for official test results of both parents. A digital pedigree brings exactly those two things together: the ancestry and the photos and test results, in one place.

That matches what Dutch law asks of breeders. The NVWA explains that you may not breed with dogs or cats that can pass on serious hereditary defects or diseases, and that welfare and health come first in breeding. These rules are in article 3.4 of the Besluit houders van dieren (Animal Keepers Decree). A clear pedigree with test results shows that you take this seriously.

Step 1: save the pedigree on PawPeds as a PDF

1. Go to pawpeds.com and look up your cat or dog in the breed's database.
2. Open the animal's pedigree page.
3. In your browser, choose Print and select Save as PDF as the printer.
4. Save the file on your computer or phone.

Use your browser's print function for this. Nestjes cannot read a screenshot or a photo of a paper pedigree.

Step 2: upload the PDF with your animal on Nestjes

1. Go to My Animals and open the cat or dog the pedigree belongs to.
2. Go to the Pedigree section.
3. Choose Upload PawPeds pedigree (PDF) and select the file.

You only see this button for cats and dogs, and only while that animal's pedigree is still empty. If you have already entered ancestors, your own work stays as it is and Nestjes imports nothing.

Step 3: check the preview and import

Nestjes reads the PDF and first shows a preview. Take your time to check it: are the right parents in it and are the names correct? If the PDF belongs to a different animal than the one you opened, you get a warning. If everything is right, choose Import pedigree.

Up to five generations are imported: your animal itself plus four generations of ancestors. If the PDF contains more generations, the preview tells you. After importing you can still edit every ancestor.

Step 4: complete the pedigree with photos and health tests

Ancestors that are not yours appear as yellow cards: they exist only in the pedigree. Click such a card and choose Add photos and health tests. The ancestor then becomes an animal in My Animals, with the details from the pedigree already filled in. After that you add photos and test results.

Start with the parents and grandparents. Buyers look at those first, and according to the LICG good test results for both parents make it less likely that a kitten develops a hereditary condition. Which tests are usual differs per breed; in cats they include tests for HCM (thickening of the heart muscle) and PKD (cysts in the kidneys). For HCM, one good scan is no guarantee: PawPeds' HCM programme recommends examining a cat from one year of age and before breeding, then yearly until the cat is more than three years old, and once more at around five. So add later results to the pedigree too.

That selecting on test results has an effect is shown by research on PawPeds' hip programme in the Maine Coon: according to the researchers, the expected hip score falls when you breed over several generations only with animals with good hip results.

Where buyers see your pedigree

Your digital pedigree is not only in your own account. Buyers see it:

• on a stud service advert, as the pedigree of the stud;
• on an advert for a litter or a single animal, with the parent animals;
• on an adoption advert;
• on the animal's public page.

You can also print the pedigree or save it as an A4 PDF, which is handy to go with the sales contract or the handover of a kitten or puppy.

Things to keep in mind

• Not a replacement for your papers: the digital pedigree on Nestjes is an overview. The pedigree certificate from the club or stud book your animal is registered with remains the official document.
• Keep it honest: only add test results you actually have, with the result as stated on the report.
• Look at relatedness too: the LICG advises breeders to limit inbreeding as much as possible. A pedigree over several generations helps you see whether two animals are related.

Selling kittens or puppies soon? Then also read selling kittens: age, price and advert and selling puppies: what is allowed and required. Then browse the cats page and the dogs page on Nestjes.

Sources

1. NVWA – Fokken met honden en katten (breeding with dogs and cats) (accessed October 2026)
2. LICG – De aanschaf van een raskat (buying a pedigree cat) (accessed October 2026)
3. LICG – Erfelijkheid verder uitgelegd (heredity explained further) (accessed October 2026)
4. PubMed Central – A Questionnaire Survey on Long-Term Outcomes in Cats Breed-Screened for Feline Cardiomyopathy (accessed October 2026)
5. PubMed Central – Demography, heritability and genetic correlation of feline hip dysplasia and response to selection in a health screening programme (accessed October 2026)