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Stem cell therapy for dogs

3K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  dpate 
#1 ·
I recently learned that my vet offers stem cell therapy for dogs and by all accounts, it has been quite successful in performance dogs he has treated (herding, agility, flyball mostly) and for about the same costs as surgery (used extensively for knee problems). I know it's been used pretty extensively in horses as well. And for those that may not know about it, it seems like something worthy of checking into before going the surgery route. Although my dog isn't injured (knock on wood), I found it very interesting and wondered if anyone here has any experience with stem cell therapy?

Here's an article from Nature about it:

http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cells-boom-in-vet-clinics-1.12765
 
#2 ·
I recently learned that my vet offers stem cell therapy for dogs and by all accounts, it has been quite successful in performance dogs he has treated (herding, agility, flyball mostly) and for about the same costs as surgery (used extensively for knee problems). I know it's been used pretty extensively in horses as well. And for those that may not know about it, it seems like something worthy of checking into before going the surgery route. Although my dog isn't injured (knock on wood), I found it very interesting and wondered if anyone here has any experience with stem cell therapy?

Here's an article from Nature about it:

http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cells-boom-in-vet-clinics-1.12765
Include me in the group who are skeptical. I've had two potential candidates. One with a CCL TPLO repair & another with a surgically repaired achilles. I investigated every application I could find and found not one dog that seemed to benefit over just surgery alone. I know of a number of performance Labs who have received injections but not one where it could be conclusively stated stem cell treatments helped. The only thing I found was that vets are using the treatment for arthritic conditions and dogs are seeing temporary relief. And BTW, dogs are not horses.....
 
#3 ·
There was a clinic near me that offered it. I sent a few clients over there that were interested in it but never had one go for it. I think the biggest down fall is there's no way to know how long the benefits will last... ie, if you have to repeat it to maintain a CCL rupture, you could have paid for a TPLO many times over.

Also, from a scientific view, I'm a little skeptical of cookbooking stem cells in the back of a veterinary clinic. Mind you, I have not actually seen this in practice, but it just has always seemed a little fishy to me. The horse stem cells are usually purified by an outside lab, which seems a little more legit to me. Maybe there's a DVM on the board that actually does the procedure in the office and can comment on that aspect?
 
#4 ·
A vet that I know who is certified in stem cell therapy told me that the biggest downfall is that people don't realize that stem cell therapy won't cure the cause of the problem if you don't know what it is. The example she used is a dog who had blown out an ACL. But the cause of the blown ACL was actually a badly tipped pelvis, and until you fix that, all the stem cells in the world aren't going to make a difference because the cause of the problem is still there.
 
#5 ·
Stem Cell replacement for retrieving and all other active dogs

I have studied the recent introduction of canine stem cell treatment here are my findings. Those who know the history of the TPLO will recall how Slocomb stole the procedure from Jimmy Milton and Bobby Horne while at Auburn and filed a patent application in his name. This is not what I want to discuss. In today's age we have a company called VetStem domiciled in Poway, Ca. Vet Stem uses adipose material to create and harvest stem cells for treatment. This procedure is legitimate yet it is less efficacious than the extraction of bone marrow and using that sample to harvest stem cells. In 2008 I took my bitch Candlewood's She's so Fine(Sophie) to Colorado State Vet School and had bone marrow extracted. Two weeks later we injected Sophie in 6 separate areas-hip, hock, and 'Ankle". Sophie is dysplastic in one hip and "fair" in the other. She has 2nd degree dysplasia in one front elbow and 3rd degree in her other elbow. The top guys there were Erik Egger(tremendously talented and a unique personality) and Ross Palmer , Orthopedics Professor at CSU. The company that processed the marrow is located in Fort Collins and headed by a very nice guy T.K. Pope, MS, Advanced Regenerative Therapies. 970 420-0651. Sophie was injected and she is still training and competing 5 years later. As my friend Wayne Whitney ,DVM says "Lanse these dogs don't run on their elbows, they run on their hearts." Sophie was QAA at 2yrs 2months and had 38 Derby points. She has 13 AA OPEN points and is an AFC. With VetStem we have a company who has tried to control the market, by offering "courses on the internet" and upon completion of the course that vet is an approved practitioner. Then like a franchise operator the company(VetStem) will issue no licensed approval to any vet whose geographical proximity would overlap their registered and approved veterinarian. Why do I prefer CSU? 1) the use of bone marrow yields more stem cells than adipose material. 2) CSU has all the possibly needed back up in all fields should there be any problems. 3) Since VetStem's approach is more like MLM tactics then I read it as a company that is more interested in it's controlled licensing profits rather than the availability to any practicing vet whose geographical location may overlap that of their "Licensed and approved exclusive practitioner." In no way am disparaging of VetStem's laboratory procedures or the efficaciousness of their method, I do take exception to their restrictive and often misplaced licensing procedures. I also find out after the fact that Daryl Frisbe's son is a full prof at CSU in large animals and he has been doing successful stem cell therapy for 18 years on horses-race horses, dressage etc. So there it is AFC Candlewood's She's so Fine, 2 dysplastic elbows, one fair hip, one dysplastic hip. 2 TPLOs, and a broken knee cap caused while making a retrieve in Onoway at a trial. There is a long list of retriever people who have had Wayne do this procedure and the dog has gone on to compete. I hope this will help someone seeking the best treatment for their "Darling", it worked for Sophie so why change?
 
#6 ·
I will also add to what Lanse has said about Sophie....she may take more daily supplements than I do, but at 8 yrs old she is FAR from finished with her FT career, stay tuned the girl has a campaign left in her....she likes her meds hidden in peanut butter, I take mine with a starbucks latte or a diet dr pepper
 
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