Hi Everyone. We are considering the introduction of the personalised genetic vet care program in
our practice. A staff meeting has been scheduled for _Tuesday 12-8-12 _ at 12PM _ to discuss
this program and the implications to our practice.
Please take your time to read this document before the meeting. We would love to hear your
opinions in the meeting. Looking forward to it.
___ name ______________
1. What is breed-specific personalized health care?
There is an explosion of animal genetic tests and disease screening tools becoming available to pet owners
and veterinarians around the world. Partly because of huge leaps in gene mapping technology which made it
possible to interrogate large amounts of DNA in a cost effective manner. And partly because animals are
used as models for studying human disease, behavior and heritable traits. These new tools have generated a
huge amount of disease information that is now changing the way we approach both human health and
veterinary care.
Orivet Genetics has been in the forefront of the most recent research and advances in canine genetic
testing collaborating with multiple organizations and universities around the world. The genetic tools we
developed help identify dogs’ genetic ancestral origins, linking it to heritable disease predisposition. The
“Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” is a practical program that provides an industry-changing model
for caring for small animals. The program uses genetic and lifestyle information such as age and sex to
provide customized, breed-specific wellness plans for both pure breed and mixed breeds dogs.
The “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” recognizes that each pet is a unique individual carrying
specific risks. This allows veterinarians tailor recommendations and then screen for, diagnose and treat
certain conditions earlier and more effectively than ever before. In human medicine this concept is well on
the way with implementation ranging from cancer therapy, disease prevention to family planning. There is
no doubt veterinary care will not stay far behind. The “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” gives you
an opportunity to get in the conversation and become leaders in your field differentiating your practice from
the pack.
Lets look at a couple of examples. Most veterinarians are used to approaching any given eye case in dogs as
an “eye problem” often not considering that this “Boston Terrier Cross” is more likely than other breeds to
suffer from a dominant form of hereditary cataract, or that Jack Russell terriers are more likely to develop
lens luxation. Similarly a urinary problem in miniature Schnauzer is more likely to be related to bladder
stones that other breeds.
In the same way we are more likely to recommend heart screening to a Boxer that a Labrador. In fact we
know that close to 70% of pure breeds have some genetic predisposition to disease. And yet more
veterinarians discover Von willerbrand’s disease when they encounter excessive bleeding during routine
surgery than by using an inexpensive test such as a buccal mucosal bleeding time.
As veterinarians it can often be difficult to access and process this huge body of information readily, let
alone put it into day to day use. The “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” Aims to help you do just
that by compiling this data is an easy to follow format that your entire team can access and implement.
To summarize: What is “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program”? A solution to increase the relevance
and value of veterinary health services by:
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Increasing specificity of veterinary recommendations by breed, genetic predisposition, age and sex
rather than species.
Incorporating genetic testing to identify problems early.
Expanding medical recommendations and services to align more with our client’s affinity for their
pet's breed and health care goals
Providing a lifetime of recommendations for mixed breed and over 100 pure breed dogs.
Making you the expert on breed associated problems and how to uniquely personalise care for these patients.
2. Benefits
Benefits to the practice:
For veterinary healthcare providers, a “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” offers the potential to
improve the quality of care, through more precise diagnostics, better therapies, and access to more accurate
and up-to-date patient data. Veterinarians may have to build new service lines around prevention and
wellness in order to replace revenues lost from traditional medical procedures. Veterinary teams will have to
gain a solid educational background in genomics to make the best use of the new data.
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Increase client satisfaction as you treat their pets as the unique individuals that they are. It makes for
a stronger bond with your clients.
Practice higher level of medicine with more effective screening, diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Incorporate more breed specific conditions to your working differential diagnosis lists.
Increased patients life span
A chance to differentiate in the market place
Increased revenue
Advanced knowledge and training, moving into the new era of implemented genomics in your
practice.
Benefits to Clients:
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Comfort in knowing their pet is being treated as a unique individual
Pet live longer healthier life
Increased level of knowledge about their pet leading to more meaningful bond
Health benefits (reduced stress, blood pressure, etc) due to in intensified pet ownership experience.
Benefits to Pet
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Live longer healthier life
Increased quality of life
Stronger bond with the owners
Why Now?
The pet care wellness model is evolving and have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Recent changes
in vaccination protocols, parasite control and the emergence of veterinary specialist teams means a changing
dynamics for primary care veterinarians. At the same time, pets' status has truly elevated to become genuine
family members, it is estimated that 60% of pets in the US sleep with the owners in their bedroom. The
emergence of personalized medicine is human is gaining momentum and pet owners are looking for
equivalents in health care for their pets.
Breed identification DNA tests are also becoming more popular and there are now over 200 different tests
for genetic diseases and traits from cataracts, to dilated cardiomyopathy to many different bleeding disorders
and even the very first test for juvenile epilepsy test for dogs. More importantly there are new tests coming
online almost on a monthly basis.
Interestingly, despite of all of the genetic testing that is available for dogs and cats, most veterinarians are
not yet taking full advantage of the testing available. So there is a huge potential for the profession. On the
most basic levels veterinarians can use DNA testing to detect problems before they occur. It is now possible
to tell in pups as young as 1 day of age whether or not they will ever be prone to developing a bleeding
problem and to take appropriate precautions during surgery. On a more advanced level, the program lets us
create customize pet profiles for our patients. For instance if you have an Australian Shepherd in your
practice, you can actually tell, from a very early age, whether that animal will ever be prone to disease such
as Cataracts, Coroidal Hyperplasia, B12 malabsorption, Retinal atrophy and MDR1 Gene mutation which
identify how they metabolize drugs such as Ivermectin, certain sedatives and chemotherapy agents.
When clients perceive that wellness care is limited to vaccinations and parasite control and then see those
services offered at discount prices elsewhere, they have little incentive to select a veterinary care provider
for any other reason than cost. Smart businesses know that regardless of the state of the economy, that which
is new, better and different will continue to do well. Our “Personalized Genetic VetCare Program” is
different, it helps clients see wellness care as "designer" medicine driven by the unique genetics makeup,
age and sex risks of their pets.
3. How can it work at our hospital? What’s next?
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Review the program’s available materials
What breeds will we start with? How many?
We need to define what screening we will offer - develop our medical protocols
Customise client education materials – How will we communicate this to our clients
Set baseline and targets to measure our success