Happy National Cat Lovers’ Month! We never miss an opportunity to talk about how much we love cats. We’ve already introduced you to the VetStem Pack so for this week’s blog, we wanted to introduce you to some of the VetStem Clowder! (And if you’re curious about how VetStem Cell Therapy is being used in cats, check out this blog.)

Frankie and Puck

Frankie and Puck are two Maine Coons owned by VetStem CEO, Dr. Bob Harman. Each one weighs 28lbs! As you can imagine, they hold their own with Mick and Gracie, the Border Collie and Aussie of the house.

Josephine’s Amazing Dreamcoat aka “Phini” and Scarf

Phini and Scarf are both Oriental Shorthairs owned by our Director of Commercial Operations, Kristi. Phini tolerates Scarf who tends to get himself into trouble. For instance, he loves eating socks. Can you tell by that goofy look on his face?

Ali’I, Keone, Squirrel, and Lilly

These four cuties are owned by Customer Service Rep, Whitney. Apparently they each hang out in different locations in the house so the only way you’d know Whitney has 4 cats is if you shake the treat can and they all come running!

Gryffin

Gryffin is a Ragdoll owned by Customer Service Manager, Veronika. According to Veronika, he’s full of cattitude and rules the roost (as he should with a face like that!)

Portia

Portia is a Manx mix owned by our Marketing Assistant, Ashley. If you so much as brush up against her, her purr machine kicks into high gear. She’s a love!

Though we frequently talk about VetStem Cell Therapy for dogs and cats on this blog, the first patient to receive VetStem Cell Therapy was actually a horse way back in 2004. This horse was treated for a tendon injury that would have normally been career-ending. By 2007, the number of horses treated reached 2,000, with a high return to performance rate.

One of VetStem’s earliest providers, Dr. Martin Gardner, began providing VetStem Cell Therapy to his equine patients back in 2005. Dr. Gardner is a well-known equine lameness practitioner and VetStem Cell Therapy proponent. He is the owner of Western Performance Equine based in Ione, California, where he works with associate veterinarians Dr. Dylan Costello and Dr. Colton Ramstrom.

As one of VetStem’s most dedicated proponents, Dr. Gardner recently reached 500 VetStem cases. This is a major milestone that only one other vet has reached thus far. The majority of his patients are performance horses that receive stem cell therapy for orthopedic injuries. His use of VetStem’s adipose derived stem cells has been primarily in soft tissue injuries (ligament and tendon issues) and, according to Dr. Gardner, has resulted in a higher than average return to full/previous exercise levels for the horses treated.

Numerous horse owners have reported that VetStem Cell Therapy helped get their horse back to work. In fact, based on survey results from horse owners, 76% of horses returned to full work at their prior level after treatment for suspensory ligament injuries, 77% returned to full work after treatment for tendon injuries, and 57% returned to full work after treatment for joint disease.

If you think your horse may benefit from VetStem Cell Therapy, speak to your veterinarian or contact us for a list of VetStem providers near you.

Today is one of our favorite days of the year: National Dog Day! For those of you who follow our social media, you’re probably familiar with some of the VetStem pack members. For the rest of you, meet our pack!

If you don’t already know, Mick is the unofficial VetStem mascot. He belongs to VetStem CEO, Dr. Bob Harman. He even has an entire #MickMonday social media campaign dedicated to him! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to check it out.

Our followers are also probably familiar with the craziest Frenchie in the land, Darby! She belongs to Veronika, our Customer Service Manager. She is full of personality and of course lots of Frenchie snorts! Her silly antics keep us entertained all day long!

Another familiar face, this bear of a dog is Elphie (short for Elphaba). She’s a cute and fuzzy ball of fur! Just ask her mom, our Director of Commercial Operations, Kristi. Oh wait, never mind, she’s busy vacuuming.

Next up is this mischievous foursome! From left to right, we have Duncan, Flynn, Brogan, and Luca, otherwise known as the Herd of Herders. I asked Whitney, our Customer Service Rep, what it’s like owning four herding dogs. To sum up her reply, she said, “What, like it’s hard?”

These sweet girls are Moosh and Quita. Owned by our Chief Development Officer, Anne, they are the best of friends and the yin to each other’s yang.

Some of you may remember Stormy’s puppy pictures from when she first visited our office. Well, she’s 5 months now and as you can see, she’s grown a lot! IT Manager Willy said she’s very intelligent and has learned basic commands quickly. She loves to play hide and seek and to go swimming at the beach.

This chocolate girl is Willow. She belongs to our Marketing Assistant, Ashley. At 11 years old she has almost as much spunk as she did when she was 2! Her favorite things in life are food, squeaky toys, and following her humans around the house.

And lastly, we have these two goofballs. Mira (brindle) is the mom to Huggy (cream). According to our Sales Rep, Roberta, they are the clowns of the house. “Like mother, like son.”

Lately, we’ve shared news about our work with several species of exotic animals. VetStem has worked with a number of exotic animal organizations around the U.S. to provide stem cell therapy to sick and injured animals. You may remember our recent blogs about elephants and aquatic animals.

We’ve also discussed our work with bears, including Francis and Brody. Francis is a sun bear from the San Diego Zoo that received VetStem Cell Therapy for arthritis in several joints. Brody, a juvenile black bear in Florida, received VetStem Cell Therapy in conjunction with surgery for a condition that is similar to hip dysplasia in dogs. In addition to degenerative and congenital diseases, VetStem Cell Therapy has been used to treat traumatic injuries such as a sea turtle who was injured by a propeller as well as viral diseases as discussed in our blog about elephants.

Recently, VetStem Chief Development Officer, Dr. Anne Hale, visited The Preserve in Texas to discuss the use of stem cells in some of their older elephants and giraffes. According to their website, “The Preserve is dedicated to expanding elephant education, knowledge, and conservation. These efforts have brought about numerous professional accolades and recognition. We’re committed to doing our part to help save elephants from extinction.”

Dr. Hale stated, “I was honored to meet The Preserve family and look forward to supporting their efforts to keep these wonderful animals healthy and happy.”

At VetStem, we recognize our duty to these exotic and endangered animals. We take our job very seriously when it comes to the research and development of innovative regenerative medicine treatments for animals and diseases that have minimal treatment options. For those who may be interested in having an exotic animal treated or contributing to the exotic animal cell therapy program, we encourage you to reach out to VetStem personnel.

Today is Take Your Dog To Work Day and as most of you know, VetStem has this one down! In fact, every day is Take Your Dog To Work Day at VetStem! We are fortunate to work in a dog friendly office where on any given day, there may be multiple dogs roaming the halls.

We of course love it but there are more benefits beyond all the extra puppy snuggles. According to one study, there is a potential correlation between bringing your dog to work and a reduction in stress levels. Scientists found that people who took their dogs to work reported lower stress throughout the day than employees without pets or those who had pets but didn’t take them to work.

Another study found that 90 percent of employees in pet friendly workplaces feel highly connected to their company’s mission, fully engaged with their work, and willing to recommend their employer to others. Additionally, more than three times as many employees at pet friendly workplaces report a positive working relationship with their boss and co-workers and are more likely to stay with a company long term. Learn more here.

All of that being said, not every work environment can accommodate dogs. So if you’re not able to bring your dog to work, we invite you to live vicariously through us and enjoy these pictures of dogs at the VetStem office:

Last week, The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) hosted the first Pain Management Forum in Denver, CO. VetStem team members Kristi Hauta, Dr. Amber Vibert, and Dr. Anne Hale attended the conference to provide education on all things regenerative medicine, and to learn more about the most current research in pain and pain management. VetStem also proudly sponsored a dry lab with a long-time VetStem user and current president of the IVAPM, Dr. Douglas Stramel.

The IVAPM seeks to “advocate for best practices in the treatment of animals in pain.” The IVAPM was originally known as the Companion Animal Pain Management Consortium and was co-founded in 2001 by long-time VetStem client and collaborator, Dr. Jamie Gaynor. The Academy provides educational resources including a program to become a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner (CVPP) as well as online resources for veterinary professionals and animal owners. The IVAPM outreach in the veterinary community also consists of research funding and scholarships to help promote the welfare of animals around the world.

What we found at this intimate conference was a passionate group of people who work tirelessly to provide evidence-based education for veterinary professionals and pet owners so we can become more skilled in recognizing, understanding, and alleviating animal pain. We were privileged to have lectures provided by several experts in this field including multiple members of the IVAPM board of directors.

VetStem’s mission to improve the quality of life of animals and humans starts with understanding, treating, and preventing pain through regenerative medicine. Only through open communication of ideas, research, and collaboration with our colleagues throughout the world can we achieve this goal. Attending the Pain Management Forum and connecting with IVAPM members certainly brought these goals further into fruition.

If you think your pet may be in pain, you can use these online resources to help you learn more: Animal Owners – IVAPM, The Feline Grimace Scale, The Horse Grimace Scale, and Canine and Feline Pain Scales. But as always, your veterinarian is your best resource to assess your pet’s condition. To find out if regenerative medicine can help, click here.

As leaders in the field of regenerative veterinary medicine, we are proud to announce that we have reached a new stem cell processing milestone. VetStem has processed over 15,000 patient samples resulting in over 35,000 stem cell treatments for animals across the United States and Canada. Over 2,200 veterinarians have utilized VetStem Cell Therapy processing services for their patients.

The majority of these treatments have been for orthopedic conditions such as osteoarthritis as well as injured tendons and ligaments in dogs, cats, and horses. We have also provided cell therapy services for patients with alternate conditions such as renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease, gingivostomatitis, spinal conditions, and more as part of our clinical research programs.

While most know that we primarily work with domestic animals, we also work with multiple exotic animal organizations and their programs to provide stem cell therapy for several exotic species. To date, nearly 200 exotic animals have been treated. Those animals include elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, several species of bears, giraffes, penguins, dolphins and more.

We are very proud to be leaders in this field of cutting-edge medicine. And we look forward to what the future holds! That being said, we wouldn’t be where we are without all of YOU, our pet owners and veterinary clients, who have trusted VetStem to handle your pets’ and patients’ stem cells over the past nearly two decades. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

March 23^rd was National Puppy Day. To help you celebrate, we thought we would share how puppies can benefit from VetStem Cell Therapy. That’s right, stem cell therapy is not just for older or injured dogs, it can help puppies too!

VetStem StemInsure: The Stem Cell Insurance

VetStem offers a service called StemInsure. Similar to storing your baby’s stem cells at birth, the canine StemInsure provides peace of mind with banked stem cells that can be used later in life should your dog require them. Hence why we like to think of it as stem cell “insurance.” While many owners take advantage of this service for their young, healthy dogs, older dogs have benefitted from StemInsure as well.

What is the StemInsure Process?

The StemInsure process is similar to our standard stem cell process where we extract stem cells out of a small amount of fat from your furry friend. This small sample of cells can be stored for the lifetime of your dog and can be used to culture, or grow, therapeutic stem cell doses should your dog become sick or injured later in life. While many dogs can benefit from StemInsure, this process is ideal for large breed puppies and other breeds that are considered high risk for developing orthopedic diseases as they age.

Benefits of StemInsure

StemInsure comes with several advantages. First, the fat tissue can be collected in conjunction with an already scheduled, routine procedure such as a spay or neuter. While performing the routine procedure, your veterinarian will simply collect a small amount of fat from your dog and send it to our laboratory to be processed. If your dog requires stem cell therapy in the future, he/she won’t need to go through an additional fat collection procedure.

Another benefit of StemInsure is the price. The StemInsure process costs considerably less than our standard process. Because there are no therapeutic doses being sent for immediate treatment, the stem cell processing is much less intensive. Additionally, StemInsure cell banking is a bit cheaper than standard stem cell banking.

To find a VetStem credentialed veterinarian near you, click here.

The VetStem sales and marketing team spent several days last week at a veterinary conference in Las Vegas. The annual Western Veterinary Conference is one of the biggest veterinary industry shows in the nation and VetStem has exhibited at this show for over 15 years.  

We always enjoy getting out in front of our community and meeting both current and potential future clients. These veterinary shows allow us to educate veterinarians and veterinary technicians about VetStem Cell Therapy and how they can implement this therapeutic modality in their practice. Many veterinarians show interest in our clinical research programs, as these conditions tend to have limited treatment options.  

We also love being around our industry colleagues. Veterinary exhibit halls are a great place to look for new ideas and ways in which we can expand VetStem’s product offerings. Plus, there are always several pets roaming the exhibit hall, including our very own Ben! Ben loves meeting new faces in the VetStem booth.  

This year, we did an overhaul of our booth design and offerings. Check out some fun pictures below. 

Unfortunately, it’s not an uncommon story. A dog is running and playing and suddenly starts limping or holding one of their back legs up as if hurt. Usually, a trip to the veterinarian is in order. That’s exactly what happened to Belle, a mixed-breed dog, who was approximately 9 years old when she injured her knee. A trip to her veterinarian revealed that she had partially torn her cruciate ligament and also had osteoarthritis in her left knee.

Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Dogs

Cruciate ligament rupture is one of the most common reasons for hind limb lameness, pain, and subsequent knee arthritis in dogs. Additionally, according to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, 40-60% of dogs who injure one cruciate ligament will go on to injure the other cruciate ligament in the future. While there are multiple treatment options available, both surgical and non-surgical, treatment with stem cells may accelerate and improve healing within the joint.

VetStem Cell Therapy for Partial Cruciate Ligament Tears

Though full cruciate ligament tears often require surgical repair, partial tears can sometimes be treated successfully without surgery. Stem cells are regenerative cells that can differentiate into many tissue types, reduce pain and inflammation, help to restore range of motion, and stimulate regeneration of tendon, ligament, and joint tissues. Many dogs have received VetStem Cell Therapy for partial cruciate ligament tears and have experienced a better quality of life. Thus, Belle’s veterinarian, Dr. Jennifer Tate of Timberstone Vet, recommended treatment with VetStem Cell Therapy.

Belle Receives Treatment with VetStem Cell Therapy

To begin the process, Dr. Tate collected fat tissue from Belle’s abdomen during a minimally invasive anesthetic procedure. The fat tissue was shipped to the VetStem laboratory where lab technicians extracted and concentrated Belle’s stem and regenerative cells. Two stem cell injections were shipped to Dr. Tate for treatment while the rest were put into cryostorage. Approximately 48 hours after the initial fat collection procedure, Belle received one stem cell injection into her affected knee as well as one intravenous injection.

According to her owner, Belle had a great response to treatment with VetStem Cell Therapy. Her owner stated, “Choosing to do stem cell therapy for Belle was the best choice we could’ve made. Within a few months of treatment and recovery, she was back to her old self running and playing and patrolling her kingdom.” Approximately one year later, Belle received a similar stem cell treatment for her opposite knee. Using some of her stored stem cell doses from the initial procedure, Belle received one dose into her right knee and one intravenous dose. She recovered well from that procedure and, according to her owner, is a happy girl with great mobility.

If your dog has an injured cruciate ligament, speak with your veterinarian about the possibility of treating with VetStem Cell Therapy. Or contact us to receive a list of VetStem providers in your area.