Arthritis in dogs is what has been treated most often with partial tears of cruciate ligaments coming in second. However, Vet-Stem is part of an international effort that is exploring the ways that stem cells can be used to treat many of the major diseases and injuries known to veterinary and human medicine.  Read the rest of this entry »

Josephine turned 11 years old in November. She is on her way to MACH 7 and still going strong nearly three years post stem cell treatment. It has been a miracle for her and has allowed her to do what she loves best! Agility!

As told by Helen King, Josephine’s owner, “In the winter of 2008, our top winning standard Poodle, Josephine (MACH 6, ADCH Teller Hollywood Dream, MXF, SACH, SCH, CD, HIT, CGC) began to show signs of a problem in her hind legs. She started to slow down on the teeter, dog walk and weaves. She was 9 years old at the time so we thought it might just be her age. Read the rest of this entry »

Sunny is a 15 1/2 year old buff Cocker Spaniel.  Sunny looks young for his years and is active with his owner (Kristi).  Kristi is my daughter and Sunny has been by her side for all these 15 years.  Two weeks ago, Sunny hopped off the couch and became immediately very painful and lame on his right rear leg.  Ouch!!  Not being a small animal veterinarian, I took Sunny to see a veterinary surgeon, a friend attending the CVC West veterinary convention in San Diego. Read the rest of this entry »

 One of the most common injuries a dog can get is a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).  The tearing of the ligament happens in healthy athletic dogs as well as overweight dogs when they are running and suddenly change direction.  The ACL and the posterior cruciate ligament are two ligaments that cross each other as one travels from the front to the back of the knee joint, and the other travels from the back to the front. What does the ACL do?  This ligament is a fibrous band of tissue that attaches your dog’s femur with their tibia, making the knee joint a hinge. 

I recently read a blog post about Jasmine, a five and a half year old Rottweiler that underwent stem cell therapy.  The owner brought Jasmine to see her vet when she noticed her dog wasn’t as agile as she once was. Jasmine’s vet diagnosed her with a partial cruciate ligament tear and recommended stem cell therapy for the dog. Read the rest of this entry »

So my Dog is Pleasantly Plump??

It is hard to not give in when we think our dogs are ‘starving’.   Did you know that if you can maintain a healthy weight for your dog you can actually reduce the chance of your dog getting arthritis by 33%!!  Dogs that are overweight are also treated for the pain associated with arthritis at an earlier age. Overweight dogs also rupture their cruciate ligament (ligament in the knee)  2-3 times more often than dogs of normal weight.  Convinced yet??

So what is the secret to loosing and keeping weight off?  Read the rest of this entry »

A common question is “when will this be available for humans?” New therapies do take longer to be allowed in people, but the good news is that Vet-Stem has collected very valuable data from the thousands of dogs and horses that we have helped veterinarians treat for OA and tendon and ligament injuries. The dog is actually a very good model for human osteoarthritis. Dogs are also prone to similar soft tissue injuries such as cruciate ligament ruptures (ACL, knee injury) and tears, conditions that veterinarians have seen great improvement in healing by using stem cells. Read the rest of this entry »