Stem Cell Therapy May Help Dogs with Arthritis
If you’ve ever had a pet, you know how quickly a little puppy can steal your heart. Dogs bring immense joy to children and adults alike and are like family. For pet owners, it is extremely distressing to see their best friend in pain. But as dogs age, that easy run turns into a slow, stiff walk, jumping up to greet you is no longer possible, and lying down to rest is accompanied by a groan. The current treatments for dog arthritis are symptomatic, aimed at relieving pain. Massage, supplements, laser therapy, and pharmaceutical agents can make the dogs more comfortable, but do not address the underlying problem.
Now, dog owners may not have to watch their pet suffer in the last few years of its life. Stem cell therapy may help make these miserable years good again. Veterinarian Dr. Rosie Gilbert of Viking Veterinary Care in Portland, Oregon, is a believer. “It’s possible these treatments may make an arthritic dog feel great for the last years of life,” she says.
The procedure involves removing fat from the dog’s shoulder under anesthesia and extracting stem cells from it. The concentrated mix is prepared in a laboratory and returned to the vet, who then re-injects it into the affected joint. The hope is that the progenitor cells will differentiate into bone, cartilage, or synovial fluid, whatever the joint is lacking, to make it healthy again. The effects of the first injection take a few days to kick in, but treatments can last up to two and a half years.
Stem cell treatment for dogs doesn’t come cheap, at $2,000 a shot, but for pet owners who are spending more than $500 every month on other therapies, it may seem worth it. The therapy is experimental, but the allure of avoiding surgery and keeping a beloved pet out of pain is hard to resist.
More than 20 percent of dogs suffer from canine osteoarthritis. If weight loss, physical therapy, supplements, acupuncture, and pain medications fail, joint replacement surgery, especially of the hip, is the only option. Total hip replacement is associated with up to six months of recovery and is considerably more expensive than stem cell treatment.
Companies like Vet-Stem are promoting regenerative medicine for dogs as a unique therapy. In the past six years, more than 500 dogs have been treated with stem cell therapy, with more than 8 out of 10 owners reporting improvement in arthritic symptoms.
Studies sponsored by Vet-Stem have shown impressive results. Dogs treated with stem cell therapy had less lameness, better range of motion, and improvement in joint pain. Nonetheless, the scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of surgery is far greater than the mostly anecdotal evidence favoring stem cell therapy.
References:
- http://www.nwcn.com/news/local/animal/stem-cell-therapy-helping-pets-in-pain/322221906
- http://thebark.com/content/should-you-treat-your-dog-stem-cell-therapy
