LIDA - Listing of Inherited Diseases in Animals

The Listing of Inherited Disorders in Animals (LIDA) was designed to collect, organise and disseminate information on the prevalence of inherited disorders among Australian cats and dogs.

It is a website that uses non-technical descriptions and is designed to make the task of choosing a healthy pet easier and enable potential pet owners to understand health problems different breeds may face.

Paul McGreevy, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney and main developer of the site said, "In creating LIDA, our aim was to offer jargon-free description of inherited disorders and to classify the disorders by breed and organ system in a logical and easy to retrieve manner".

The data presented on this website assists:

• Potential purchasers to make informed decisions when buying puppies and kittens.
• Veterinarians to provide clients with local current data and professional experiences of their colleagues.
• Breeders to recognise which unwelcome traits are increasing and which are being successfully reduced.

As soon as the LIDA project can be funded, data will be collected from 238 participating veterinary practices throughout Australia.

The latest addition to LIDA that has been recently launched is LIDA for Cats.