visit the Genesis website for resources
- Increasing specificity of veterinary recommendations by breed rather than species.
- Incorporating genetic testing to concretely identify problems early.
- Expanding medical recommendations and services to align more with client goals for health care and their affinity for their pet's breed.
- Providing a lifetime of recommendations for 89 recognized canine breeds.
- Making you the expert on breed associated problems and how to uniquely care for these patients.
Keep reading to see free samples of the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Wellness Bookles for Clients and the Wellness Handouts for Clients on CD as well as answers to some of our most Frequently Asked Questions. You can also sign up for our electronic newsletter!
Click "Your Golden Retriever" to download a sample wellness booklet
These colorful and easy-to-read booklets explain to pet owners the health risks and concerns for each dog breed. We offer current infor-mation for the 25 most popular AKC-registered breeds, plus four sizes of mixed-breed dogs. The booklets are chock-full of beautiful photos and text that every pet owner can understand. They are professionally printed as 12 page, 5 3/8" by 8 3/8", saddle-stitched booklets.
Click "Your Mini Schnauzer" to download a sample eletronic handout
Breed booklets are also available in electronic format as Wellness Handouts for Clients on CD. As an alternative to the printed booklets, the electronic files have the same information converted to an editable and printable format. You may print the entire handout or any portion of it. You may also edit the text according to your own practice protocols, and even add your own practice name and logo.
Electronic Newsletters
1. Every Pet Is One-of-a-Kind
A monthly briefing about how to implement breed-specific health care, how to leverage the latest genetic information, and how to maximize the benefit to clients, patients, and your practice. I included a condensed first edition of the newsletter on the next page so you know what you’ll be getting!
2. Get to Know Your Breeds
Once-a-month brief training on a particular breed, including common problems and additional diagnostic tests you can offer to clients to address genetically linked diseases
3. News to Bark About
Special updates on developments in breed-based medicine, including new genetic tests; will be sent as news breaks—probably once a month or so
4. Resources You Can’t Pass Up
Quarterly notices about special promotions on products and services
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Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™
Frequently Asked Questions
We are invested in your success! To help you better understand and implement the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ program, we have provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from practice owners and managers just like you. If you don’t find the answers you need below, please feel free to contact us directly at (800) 230-8492 or info@vetthinkinc.com. We will be happy to help you in any way possible.
These FAQs are divided into three parts: implementation and logistics, information about the medical content of Genesis products, and details about Genesis products.
PART I: IMPLEMENTATION AND LOGISTICS
1. Why should I offer breed-specific health care?
With Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™products and educational resources, you will be able to treat each pet according to his or her unique attributes: age, lifestyle, and genetic predisposition to disease. Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™is a profession-transforming program based on the most recent research and medical advances in canine genetic testing and prevalence of disease. This advanced wellness care allows the health-care team to prevent, diagnose, and treat many painful, costly, and sometimes devastating diseases and conditions earlier and more effectively than with traditional veterinary care. The benefits of providing health care by breed are that:
- Patients live longer, healthier lives.
- Clients are happier because their pets live longer, healthier lives and because you treat each pet as the unique being it is.
- The bond between pet owner, pet, and veterinary health-care team is stronger.
- Your practice is more financially stable.
- You can differentiate your practice from others, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in a tough economy.
2. How do I get started?
First, determine how many breeds you’d like to start with. We recommend starting with just one, two, or three breeds, based on what’s reasonable for your practice. Use your software to identify which breeds you see most frequently, and then run a count of approximately how many appointments per month you have for that breed.
(For example, if you saw 180 golden retrievers and 120 Chihuahuas in the last two years, you averaged about 15 golden retrievers and 10 Chihuahuas per month.)
Second, order enough Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklets for Clients to cover three months’ worth of the top breeds (at least 45 golden retriever booklets and 30 Chihuahua booklets in our example).
Third, get your entire health-care team on board and excited about the program. We recommend staff meeting or trainings where you introduce the concept, review the benefits, discuss any process changes, set goals, and field questions. Once the team is on board, you can begin offering breed-based health care to each client who owns one of the breed(s) you selected.
Fourth, ask clients and staff for their feedback, and make time to review the success of the program throughout your three-month program launch. For more specific guidance on program start up, purchase a copy of the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Implementation Guide, which includes step-by-step instructions, sample templates and scripts, and staff training tools.
3. How will I train my team to do things differently? Training your team is essential to the successful launch of Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™. We recommend beginning with helping the team understand the benefits of the program for the patients, the practice, and clients. It is important for the team to understand the exact role they will need to play in the program’s success, from placing booklets in exam rooms to talking to clients about the information in the booklets. It will also be helpful for the team to build a general awareness about the health conditions likely to affect each breed. Not to worry—we have created the necessary training programs and presentations for you.
Interested in learning more about a particular breed? Log in to any of our individual self-paced web programs to expand your knowledge. This product is a quick and easy way for individual team members to learn more about each breed. Call us or visit our website, www.Genesis4Vets.com, for more information.
The Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Implementation Guide is a three-ring binder that includes everything you need to implement the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ program. It has step-by-step instructions, examples of scripts, and templates for staff training sessions. Plus, you can edit the electronic version to make a manual that’s customized for your practice.
4. How can I get everyone on the team bought in to this concept?
Team buy-in is critical to the successful launch of the program. We recommend giving a general overview of the program and helping the team brainstorm the benefits of the program. Let them identify motivators that are important to each of them individually so that they will be more likely to buy into the program. Also, build an incentive for the team and track and measure progress so that the team can feel good about their success and recognize when they have met their goals. Follow up with the reward and a discussion about how to continue to energize the program launch.
5. How should I use Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklets for Clients?
We recommend that you give each client the appropriate breed booklet either in the waiting area or as you escort him or her to the exam room. Then, after taking the history and preparing for the rest of the visit, the technician can re-introduce the booklet and ask the client if he or she has had a chance to review it. At this time, the technician should point out that the pet is unique due to her age, lifestyle, and breed and that there are health concerns that may be genetically linked. The technician and/or the veterinarian should ask the client if he or she has any questions or concerns about the information in the booklet or signs they’ve noticed at home.
Then the veterinarian can perform the physical exam and use the booklet (specifically the health-care chart) to emphasize the unique breed-specific conditions he or she is looking for. The health-care chart is meant to be a communication tool. The doctor can place a check mark or asterisk next to problems he or she is concerned with, or the doctor can highlight or circle the services in the health-care chart that the team will provide. Also, the doctor can write in any additional recommendations based on the physical exam or practice protocols.
Once you and the client reach agreement about which services will be provided during the visit, you can prepare a customized estimate for the client. Don’t forget to communicate what tests should be performed during the next visit and what you expect your client to watch for at home.
6. What if I want to customize the breed booklets with my own information?
We recognize that you may have your own practice-specific protocols, and we want to make it easy for you to adapt the breed booklets by inserting your own recommendations. That’s why we offer Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Handouts for Clients in a Microsoft® Word document format. You may add your own information or edit the information that’s already there. Add your practice’s name and logo, and print the whole flyer or just parts of it. This product contains breed information for the top 25 AKC breeds, plus four sizes of mixed breeds as well. Call, email, or visit our website to order or for more information.
7. How can I remember all of this breed-specific healthcare information in the exam room?
The Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Canine Assessments and Genetic Testing Cheat Sheet is one of the most powerful tools you can have at your disposal. This resource highlights the breed-based problems you’ll be looking for upon exam, along with the additional breed-based diagnostic testing you’ll offer based on the pet’s age. Using this book will ensure that you and your team are prepared to discuss the breed-specific problems of more than 100 of the most popular breeds. It is designed for both veterinarians and technicians and will increase your confidence by giving you a quick way to review the major diseases and specific diagnostics for each breed before you enter the exam room. Call, email, or visit our website to order or for more information.
8. How do I handle an owner that has both purebred and mixed-breed pets?
The first step is to educate the client about the health concerns and idiosyncrasies of the purebred pet, then use the mixed-breed booklet to reinforce the value of having the mixed-breed pet genetically tested. For $100–$200, the client—and your practice—will have a lifetime of information on the genetic composition of the pet. This information helps the owner understand more about the pet’s temperament and possible health concerns. In turn, you have more information about problems that could develop in the future. You will be able to create a breed-specific lifetime health-care plan for every single dog.
9. How can I tell if it’s working?
There are two primary ways to evaluate the impact of Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™. First, you can easily measure increases in diagnostic testing by running a database query for the additional tests you are recommending and compare against previous time periods. For instance, Schirmer tear tests are a great metric to follow, because most practices do not make the recommendation until patients are symptomatic. Once you have implemented Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ in your practice, you will run this easy diagnostic test more often in order to diagnose and treat problems earlier.
Buccal mucosal bleeding time (BMBT) is another great example of a test you’ll run for those breeds predisposed to hemophilia and other blood clotting abnormalities. Other ideas include measuring the number of x-rays, urinalyses, ECGs, or any other diagnostics you may run based on the genetic predispositions in the breed(s) you treat. By comparing the number of tests run in one period as compared to another, you’ll see how quickly you are progressing. Pets will live longer, healthier lives as you change the way you practice medicine, and you’ll see an increase in your practice’s bottom line.
The second measure of success is the feedback you receive from clients. If your clients comment that they appreciate your attention to the unique attributes and problems of their pets’ breeds, you know you’re on the right track.
10. How can my software help me with offering breed-specific health care?
One of the best ways you can use your existing software is to purchase and import Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Handouts for Clients (CD Format) and print the breed information you need on demand. Plus, once you have the information in an electronic format, you can easily attach the word document to the patient’s file. Another option is to create pre-programmed estimates for each breed by age.
11. How much extra work is this going to be?
The answer depends on many factors: the size of your practice, the number of breeds you choose to provide breed-specific information for, and your existing protocols, to name a few. However, for the basic implementation of your top one to three breeds as we’ve suggested in FAQ #2 above, it will like take three to six hours up front for training and process changes, and then approximately one hour per week to evaluate its success and make necessary adjustments. This is a small investment relative to the considerable return of healthier patients, more satisfied clients, and additional revenue associated with the diagnostics and early preventive treatments.
12. We recommend twice yearly exams. How do we incorporate this program into our schedule?
How you break up the lab testing depends on the dog and the breed, and whether the client already comes in twice a year because the heartworm test or Lyme vaccine is at a different time of year than the DHLPP. It’s flexible; you explain to the client how your system works when you first talk to him or her about breed-based care.
PART II: MEDICAL CONTENT
13. How can I trust that this information is credible? Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ packages all current and medically relevant wellness and genetic-testing recommendations into functional educational and promotional materials for pet owners and primary-care veterinarians. Our product-development team uses the latest medical research from industry recognized expert sources, including but not limited to:
Ackerman, Lowell. (1999). The Genetic Connection: A Guide to Health Problems in Purebred Dogs. Lakewood, CO: AAHA Press.
Coile, D. Caroline. (2007). The Dog Breed Bible. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Services, Inc.
Crook, A., Hill, B., & Dawson,S. (1998, 2004). Canine inherited disorders database.
Gough, A. & Thomas, A. (2004). Breed predispositions to disease in dogs and cats. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Webvet.com. Retrieved March 2010 from http://www.webvet.com/breeds/list?type=Dog
Furthermore, we will routinely update Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ products as medical information changes.
14. Why is obesity discussed for each breed?
Any dog will become overweight if overfed or underexercised (or both). No breed is immune to obesity, and weight has more to do with nutrition and lifestyle than with breed. According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 44% of dogs are overweight or obese. Because obesity has been linked to cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and other genetically linked health problems, we have taken the proactive position of including it in each breed booklet.
15. Which diagnostic tests should be performed for a heart health screen?
The Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ program includes language that can be used regardless of a practice’s diagnostic protocols. You can define your own protocol while using the language in the booklets. For a heart health screen, you can define the diagnostics you want to recommend. For dilatative cardiomyopathy, the diagnostic test is an annual ECG screen (but boxers have an odd form of it and should have a 24-hour ECG if possible). An annual echocardiogram would be ideal. Dogs with mitral valve insufficiency generally have a heart murmur, so when we start to hear one, we recommend annual chest x-rays. Both an ECG and chest x-rays are a good idea for senior dogs of any breed.
16. Which diagnostic tests are included in an internal organ health screen?
You will define what tests will be included in an internal organ health screen. You may choose an in-house panel or use a reference lab for the test you want to perform on a yearly or bi-annual basis. Different labs offer different packages of tests. An internal organ health screen may include a 12-chemistry panel with electrolytes plus a CBC and/or a T4, or you may choose a CBC with a 6-chemistry panel.
17. What does cancer screen mean?
The diagnostic test you perform is based on the type of cancer you are looking for. For hemangiosarcoma or lymphoma, it's a CBC. For bladder cancer, it's a urinalysis. Some types of cancer, especially liver cancer, would change something on the chemistry panel, so the chem panel is, in part, a cancer screen. For most other cancers, you are looking for lumps you can see or feel, so you aren't really doing a specific test. DNA tests to screen for risk for some cancers are probably on the horizon, but they are not available at this time.
18. What is the medical justification of asymptomatic thyroid testing?
Getting a baseline and tracking trends over time is important for dogs that are predisposed to this disease. Hypothyroidism is a problem that develops gradually over several years. Since so many pets are overweight—and that's a symptom of hypothyroidism—it's often difficult to tell if the dog is symptomatic or just overweight. It's also tough to tell whether dry skin is due to nutritional problems, dry air, seborrhea, or hypothyroidism, so you may test the T4 to rule it out.
19. We don't have a tonopen. How can we measure intra-ocular pressure?
If you provide genetics-based wellness testing, you’re going to need one. You’ll use it daily, and it will pay for itself with 100 tests.
20. Why is periodontal disease listed in all the breed-specific literature?
Periodontal disease is a condition that affects 80% of all dogs by the age of two. For some dogs, especially the majority of small-breed dogs, it’s an even bigger problem. We list dental disease in the health-care chart in every Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklet for Clients because it is impossible to overemphasize the prevalence and impact of the disease.
PART III: INFORMATION ABOUT GENESIS BREED-SPECIFIC HEALTH CARE™ PRODUCTS
21. How do I order more booklets or related products? Call (800) 230-8492 or email info@vetthinkinc.com to order more Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklets for Clients or related products. Watch for the launch of our website www.Genesis4Vets.com, where you will also be able to order products.
22. How much does the program cost? That depends on how you’d like to implement the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ program. For as little as $37.50, you can start with 20 Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklets for Clients for one breed. There is, of course, the cost associated with the time to train your team and get them on board. And, you could purchase the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Implementation Guide for $129, the GenesisBreed-Specific Health Care™ Cheat Sheet for $79, and the web-based implementation module for $399. Of course, we can send a trainer to your practice for a more customized implementation program for $2,999. And there are other products, too!
As you can see, it just depends on what your needs are for training and implementation of the program. But when you consider the cost, also consider the return. For example, even if you only do 10 additional hip radiographs per month in Labrador retrievers, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Rottweilers, Siberian huskies, or great Danes, you’ve generated $18,000 in additional revenue per year.
23. Which breeds do you have information for? We currently have Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklets for Clients for the 25 most popular breeds, according to the American Kennel Club. Plus, we have mixed-breed booklets for small, medium, large, and giant mixed-breed dogs. (Our exam-room helper, the Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ Canine Assessments and Genetic Testing Cheat Sheet has medical and wellness information for the top 100 AKC breeds, plus a few more.) We are continuing to research and develop information for additional breeds as well. Check our website, www.Genesis4Vets.com, for updates or to stay connected with the latest on breed-specific health care.
Beagle
Boston Terrier
Boxer
Bulldog (includes French Bulldog)
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Chihuahua
Cocker Spaniel
Dachshund (Miniature and Standard)
Doberman Pinscher
German Shepherd
Golden Retriever
Great Dane
Labrador Retriever
Maltese
Miniature Schnauzer
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Pointer (German and English)
Pomeranian
Poodle (Standard, Miniature, and Toy)
Pug
Rottweiler
Shetland Sheepdog
Shih Tzu
Siberian Husky
Yorkshire Terrier
Small Mixed-Breed Dog
Medium Mixed-Breed Dog
Large Mixed-Breed Dog
Giant Mixed-Breed Dog
24. What about mixed breeds?
We have the mixed breed pets covered. We offer four client booklets based on the size of the dog: small, medium, large, and giant. A key differentiator of these booklets is a section on genetics-based breed identification. There are a few test kits on the market that tell a client (and the health-care team) which breeds influence the dog’s genetics. Based on our research, the Wisdom Panel™ offers the most reliable results, and they are actively investing in new products that veterinarians will have exclusive access to. Routinely offering a breed identification test such as the Wisdom Panel™ to identify the pet’s specific genetic make-up can allow you to truly customize the pet’s future medical care. Once you’ve identified the specific breeds of the dog, you can give the client the appropriate Genesis Breed-Specific Wellness Booklet(s) for Clients as well.
25. What about cats?
We believe that cats will also benefit from breed-specific health care, and we are compiling our research to develop breed-specific health care booklets for cat owners, too. Check our website, www.Genesis4Vets.com, for updates.
26. How do we keep the booklets up-to-date?
Genesis Breed-Specific Health Care™ products are updated on an annual basis as medical information changes among these sources and other scientific publications.
27. What if I have suggestions about how to make the booklets even better?
We strive to make our products practical and useful. If you have suggestions to improve any of our products, we welcome your feedback! You can contact us by phone at (800) 230-8492 or by email at info@vetthinkinc.com.
Updated March 19, 2010
