Treating Arthritis in Dogs with Stem Cells

Many older dogs suffer from arthritis, just like humans do. Severe arthritis can be devastating to live with, and can stop us from enjoying the basics of every day living. An amazing new stem cell treatment for dogs with arthritis has now become an option, and it is looking very promising.

An interesting part of the procedure is that the stem cells actually come from the dog that is suffering from arthritis. How this works is that the dog initially has surgery in which the veterinarian removes 50 grams of fat from the dogs abdomen. The fat specimen is then sent to a company called Vet-Stem located in California. Vet-Stem will then turn this into a stem cell rich liquid that will be injected into the dogs arthritic joints. On the downside, this procedure cannot be performed on dogs that are a poor risk for anesthesia, due to the surgery necessary to acquire the stem cell injection. The procedure also has a $2,500 pricetag, and many are willing to pay that price, so far this procedure has been performed on 700 dogs suffering from arthritis in the United States.

This is still a new technology, so research is ongoing, and they do not seem to have a clear explanation as to why stem cells seem to help arthritic dogs. An interesting aspect is that veterinarians suggest the x-rays look very similar to a treated versus untreated dog. The behavior of the treated dog, is how they are judging success. Arthritic dogs who have not attempted to jump on the couch for years, are now jumping up with ease. Dogs that were in a great deal of pain when their joints were manipulated, no longer seem to be in such pain. Researchers believe the stem cell treatment is signalling other cells to come in reducing pain and inflammation, and building new tissue.