For this week’s Veterinarian Highlight, we would like to introduce you to Dr. Nick Vitale of Heritage Animal Hospital in Dundee, MI.  Dr. Vitale received his BS in Zoology and his DVM from Michigan State University.  Though a relatively recent adopter of VetStem Cell Therapy, Dr. Vitale hit the ground running and has treated over 40 patients with stem cell therapy in less than a year and half.  And that doesn’t include the patients he has treated with Veterinary Platelet Enhancement Therapy (V-PET™)!

Though stem cells are primarily used to treat orthopedic conditions such as osteoarthritis and injured tendons or ligaments, Dr. Vitale has treated his patients for several “non-standard” indications as well including feline kidney disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

We spoke with Dr. Vitale to ask a few questions about how he uses regenerative medicine in his practice.

Why do you like stem cell therapy and what do you commonly use it for?

I like it for many reasons. I can help reduce a patient’s need for medicines that have bad secondary side effects. I can help multiple issues at once, vs an owner having to perform multiple orthopedic surgeries which can be very, very expensive when the owner only has so much to work with.

Ideally, I would love to perform stem cell therapy on each orthopedic patient I take care of from ACL injuries to OCD issues to medial coronoid disease, etc. If my own lab needed ACL surgery, I would automatically perform stem cells to help the surgery even more. My normal surgical discussions, especially for ACL injuries, is to discuss standard of care surgery such as MRIT or TPLO and then I say, ‘we can make it even better with doing this.’ I also bring up that when we bank these doses, we can use them later in life for other problems such as autoimmune disease or liver or kidney problems, as this is most likely going to be a treatment very commonly done in the future. 

What injuries/ailments do you commonly treat with Veterinary Platelet Enhancement Therapy (V-PET™)?

I use V-PET for chronic non-healing injuries and for use on ligamentous and tendon injury. For very early ACL strains and tears, less than 25%, I have performed V-PET and have had good outcomes so far. I also will do this for a last resort when a patient has a less than 50% tear of an ACL and there are no other options as far as surgery, which is too expensive for the owner. Older patients, especially those with cancers, I will do V-PET on for arthritis vs doing stem cells. In very, very old patients, V-PET is easy to do and apply and it will keep them mobile longer and I have seen very good results with this modality. 

If you are located in the Dundee, MI area and are interested in having your dog or cat treated with VetStem Cell Therapy and/or Veterinary Platelet Enhancement Therapy, we recommend a visit with Dr. Nick Vitale.