Grab a box of tissues and read on…. The rocket came in fast, maybe 900 feet per second—too fast for anyone to sound the warning siren, and much too fast for all the troops of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force to take cover. It was March 21, 2007, when the 73-millimeter insurgent-launched rocket exploded inside their base in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, right next to Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee and his canine partner, Lex Lee, a 20-year-old Mississippi native, was gravely wounded by the blast. Read the rest of this entry »

Just like with a medical drug, stem cells must be collected and handled in the highest quality manner in order to maximize their good effects and safety.  If your dog’s arthritis is the reason you are seeking stem cell therapy, you expect and deserve the very highest quality.  When your Veterinarian collects a small sample of fat, it is done in an operating room with special attention to aseptic technique, meaning they use sterile gloves, instruments, and transport tubes.  The sample is then placed into a specially designed shipping container with a custom refrigeration pack.  The sample is shipped overnight by FedEx Priority Alert to our laboratory in San Diego, CA.  There are dozens of safety and quality checks as the sample makes its way through the aseptic processing by specially trained technicians following detailed written instructions.  Many steps are double checked by a second technician. Read the rest of this entry »

Dogs, like people, vary in their need and desire for physical activity; while a Border Collie never seems to stop “working” (be that managing an actual herd, or monitoring the goings-on of all living beings in the household), a Great Dane is content to meander outside for a quick potty break and then spend the next several hours power napping on a cushy bed. And like humans, many dogs who thrive on activity would rather suffer through pain and discomfort after the fact than give up the things they love to do.

Tank is just such a dog; even at 10 years old, the Malamute mix was willing to endure a days-long limp after his regular jaunts through the Canadian wilderness where his family spends half their time, rather than relax on the sidelines. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a recent email from a dog owner.  Simply put, this is why we do what we do.

“Here’s a picture of Yogi at the beach.  He’s in great shape, 2 years after the stem cell treatment.  We joke that he goes around singing “I feel good” in a James Brown voice.

Yogi was infected with 3 tick born diseases including Lyme’s about 2 and ½ years ago.  The Lyme’s, together with significant hip dysplasia, proved a terrible combination. He got so bad (even after weeks of antibiotics that cleared up the Lyme’s) that in the evenings he stiffened up so much he could barely get up from a lying or sitting position.   Some days he was in so much pain he didn’t want to go for the daily park outings with the other household dogs and would just sit forlornly on the deck.

Read the rest of this entry »

When arthritis affects the abilities of our companion dogs, we can tailor their activities to their limited stamina and mobility. When a canine member of the police force can no longer perform his duties comfortably, retirement becomes an inevitability. Such was the fate that awaited Dasty, a canine officer for the Chicago Police Department, whose arthritis pain was not reliably controlled by physical therapy or medications. According to Dr. Cheryl Adams at Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Downers Grove Illinois, who performed Vet-Stem Cell Therapy on the German Shepherd in early 2010, “Traditional treatments were just not working for him.” At Dr. Adam’s suggestion, Dasty underwent Vet-Stem Cell Therapy in early 2010; now he and his human partner can look forward to several more years of service to their city without being slowed by pain from arthritis. Read the full story here.

In an article in DVM Newsmagazine September 1, 2010, Dr. Sherman O. Canapp, DVM, MS, CCRT, Dipl. ACVS describes three options for optimal care and comfort for dogs with elbow arthritis.  Dr. Canapp is a nationally-recognized veterinary surgeon with a specialty practice in the Baltimore area that specializes in sports medicine for dogs.  He has presented the last two years at the American Veterinary Medical Association annual meetings on his use of stem cell therapy in the elbow and stifle for repair of serious sports injuries.

This particular article is the third in a three-part series covering the treatment of elbow disease in dogs, where Dr. Canapp reviews intra-articular medical treatment options for dogs.  Treatment with adipose derived stem cells is featured prominently in the article and in the associated table (see below) showing sustained duration of effect.  Read the entire article for more information.

As someone who has seen his own dogs age and lose their vitality as arthritis sets in, I know just how it feels to wistfully recall the puppy days, when walks could never be too long, couches were never too high, and stairs were never a challenge. We’re even able to forget all the potty accidents in the house and all the things that were chewed beyond salvation, longing to have that energetic, pain-free soul back. Here’s a story about hope fulfilled. Read the rest of this entry »

The story I share with you today would be considered remarkable at any time, but given the current troubled state of the economy, it could be considered downright miraculous.

It seems that a pet owner whose own dog had previously been injected with its own Vet-Stem processed stem cells at Boone Animal Hospital in Western Springs, Illinois was sitting in the clinic’s waiting room and overheard another owner lamenting that because she could not afford a necessary surgical procedure (not Vet-Stem Cell Therapy), she would have to have her dog euthanized. Read the rest of this entry »

We tend to think of larger breeds such as Labradors and Shepherds when talking about hip dysplasia, but smaller dogs can be afflicted with the joint abnormality as well. And although the defect is present at birth, some dogs go undiagnosed for many years because they don’t outwardly appear to have a problem; it’s only as they get older and have difficulty rising or getting around that owners seek treatment. The pain that Raina, a nine year old Cocker Spaniel with hip dysplasia, was suffering from had progressed to the point that her owner had to carry her outside on her bed so she could relieve herself. Read the rest of this entry »