Our two old dogs and regenerative stem cell therapy</h1> <article> <h1>Our two old dogs and regenerative stem cell therapy</h1> <p>Bob — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:01:32 +0000</p> <p>As with all dog lovers there comes a time when you notice your friend slowing down. At that point it is important to really take a look to see what things you can do to help ease any pain from arthritis or other issues. We have a 14 year old Toy Fox Terrier and a 9 year old Aussie who both have been a challenge to keep slim. They love to eat! So we ration their food but we share our celery and broccoli.<span id="more-2170"></span> They get “treats” but few calories are added. We try to balance their exercise so that they stay active but not so active that they are injured. Long nails are something that may go unnoticed but can cause pain. These are all things that you can look for and take care of at home.</p> <p>In addition it is a good idea to have a veterinary exam. The pain from arthritis can really slow your friend down. Speaking as a vet now, I think both of our old dogs are ready for some more stem cells to help provide pain relief. Arthritis is a progressive disease so periodic injections of stem cells may be helpful. Over 80% of owner surveys report an improvement in their dog’s Quality of Life after Vet-Stem cell therapy.</p> <p> </p> <p>In a future blog-Quality of Life</p> </article> <article> <h1>Can Dog Paralysis be Cured by Regenerative Medicine?</h1> <p>Bob — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:51:57 +0000</p> <p>I am guessing that you might have heard about the exciting data about dogs with damaged spinal cords that were treated with regenerative medicine. As with all science, the devil is in the details. Cure is a <strong>BIG</strong> concept. The group in England presented data in the journal <em></em> <a href="http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/current">Brain</a> showing that a stem-like cell from the nervous tissue in the nose could be injected in the damaged spinal cord of dogs. These cells apparently helped make connections between the rear and front feet to allow a more coordinated walking movement. It is difficult to see from the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/11/20/reuters-tv-paralysed-dog-walks-again-after-nose-cel?videoId=239263241&videoChannel=118065">single video</a> (this might have been the best one) to tell how much the dogs were helped. They do state that the dogs did not regain bowel or bladder control. This study was for the purpose of deciding if this therapy could some day help humans. For us, we are excited because it may help our four legged friends.</p> <p>The dog in the video improved over six months to be able to walk with the hind legs mostly following the front. It is a major advance, but far from a cure for paralysis. The authors are realistic in stating: “..this intervention alone is unlikely to have appreciable benefits in the treatment of human spinal cord injury…” The therapy helps the rear legs follow the front legs without re-connecting to the brain. It would not likely help with the more complicated activities such as bladder control, hand motion, or sexual function.</p> <p>Another interesting possibility presented by the authors is that “the precise type of cells in the transplant is not critical to the success of mucosal-derived transplants.” Vet-Stem is exploring with the authors whether adipose stem cells might provide a similar benefit, as was shown in an article by Dr. Ryu (<a href="http://synapse.koreamed.org/DOIx.php?id=10.4142/jvs.2009.10.4.273&vmode=FULL">click here for link</a>).</p> <p>Science always brings hope, but it is important to realize the time lag of translating clinical trial data into real therapy for affected animals or humans. We will update you as we determine if this method might be useful to our dog buddies in the near term.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Veterinary Stem Cell Meeting – Highlights</h1> <p>Bob — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 23:33:42 +0000</p> <p>Incredible new results for stem cell therapy were presented at the 3rd North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Meeting in Savannah, Georgia last week. I was privelidged to attend and to present our data. One presenter showed how stem cells can function to grow new tendons and ligaments. Another (Dr. Ross Rich, Cave Creek, AZ) presented data on how over 85% of horses with ligament injury return to full performance level after being treated with adipose stem cells. I was selected to present data on how stem cells can potentially help cats with failing kidneys. Dr. John Peroni of the University of Georgia presided as the association president and introduced the keynote speaker from Georgia Tech who spoke on stem cells in bone healing. One spectacular presentation showed how adipose stem cells can heal dogs with serious tendon and ligament injuries sustained in athletic events like agility and flyball. Wow. In the coming weeks, I will post on the data presented on dogs with arthritis and horses with arthritis and also laminitis to give you a flavor of the rapid progress in discovering new ways to use these cells! They even showed how they can use advanced stem cell tracking to see how cells move around the body to do their miraculous healing jobs. A dawn of the age of Regeneration has reached the veterinary world before human medicine.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Pets Best Insurance covers Vet-Stem Cell Therapy</h1> <p>Bob — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:38:01 +0000</p> <p>POWAY, Calif. – November 1, 2012 – Vet-Stem, the world’s leading Regenerative Veterinary Medicine™ company, is pleased to announce that Pets Best Insurance plans provide coverage for our Regenerative Stem Cell Therapy.</p> <p>Vet-Stem first offered stem cell therapy for dogs and cats in 2007 and is honored that so many pet owners and veterinarians have placed their trust in Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy to treat osteoarthritis, muscle, tendon and ligament injuries. Vet-Stem is proud and delighted to hear the stories of the reduction in pain, and improvement in quality of life, in so many dogs.</p> <p>One of those stories is about Jetta, a member of the Pets Best Insurance family who was treated with Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy in 2011. “Our CEO had a wonderful experience utilizing Vet-Stem therapy in his twelve year old lab. He loved throwing, and she loved chasing, a ball every evening. But as she aged, she just could not do it due to severe arthritis. Surgery was not a viable alternative and he asked me about stem cell therapy. I told him we had seen claims with the treatment and it was covered with our insurance. He had it done, her condition very much improved and she was able to chase the ball again. Pets Best Insurance provides full coverage for Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy, in fact we were early adopters of providing coverage and paying for the therapy. Any procedure performed by practicing veterinarians that helps pets, we are in favor of” said, Jack L. Stephens DVM, President/Founder of Pets Best Insurance</p> <p>“We are proud that so many dog owners and veterinarians have placed their trust in Vet-Stem Cell therapy. We feel a great sense of accomplishment knowing that there are thousands of dogs and dog owners who have experienced the benefit of stem cell technology. This practical and beneficial application of technology puts stem cell therapy into the present day instead of a future theoretical concept. The fact that Pets Best provides coverage for our therapy is an added plus and makes this a viable treatment option for many more pet owners”, said Bob Harman, DVM, MPVM, Founder and CEO of Vet-Stem.</p> <p> </p> <p>More information about Vet-Stem can be found at <a href="http://www.vet-stem.com/">www.Vet-Stem.com</a></p> <p>More information about Pet’s Best can be found at <a href="http://www.petsbest.com">www.petsbest.com</a></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">About Vet-Stem, Inc.</span></p> <p>Vet-Stem, Inc. was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the veterinary profession. In January of 2004, Vet-Stem introduced the first veterinary stem cell service in the United States. The privately held company is working to develop therapies in veterinary medicine that apply regenerative technologies while utilizing the natural healing properties inherent in all animals. Vet-Stem has exclusive licenses to over 50 patents including world wide veterinary rights for use of adipose derived stem cells.</p> <p> </p> <p><a class="a2a_dd a2a_target addtoany_share_save" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arthritisindogsblog.com%2Fpets-best-insurance-covers-vet-stem-cell-therapy%2F&title=Pets%20Best%20Insurance%20covers%20Vet-Stem%20Cell%20Therapy" id="wpa2a_2"></a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Human Crohn’s Disease Trial Reports</h1> <p>Bob — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:55:59 +0000</p> <p>Human stem cell therapy succeeds! As part of providing insights into the world of dog arthritis, I think it is useful for you to see what all is happening in the human stem cell world. Crohn’s disease is a horrible auto-immune disease where the lower GI tract is being attacked by the person’s own immune system. A group in Spain has been working for a number of years treating patients with this disease with adipose stem cell therapy. There is a great report of clinical trial you should all see (link: <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00384-012-1581-9?null">Crohn’s Trial Results</a>) where more than half of these patients had a great response to being treated with adipose stem cells. There are so many new trials around the world using stem cell from fat tissue that it is hard to keep up with the literature. Proudly, I believe that the success with using adipose stem cells to treat dog arthritis, like <a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/tuckers-quality-of-life-saved/">Tucker’s Story</a>, has helped generate interest and to show the safety of this type of therapy.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Back to School on Stem Cells</h1> <p>Bob — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:41:39 +0000</p> <p>Veterinarians are education junkies. We have continuing education opportunities nearly every week of the month, all year long. Vet-Stem has been a leader in providing education about regenerative medicine and we provide the ONLY nationally approved regenerative medicine training course for veterinarians. Over 3,000 veterinarians have been trained in the US in the last four years! If your veterinarian has not taken the course, recommend they go to the Vet-Stem webpage (<a href="http://www.vet-stem.com">www.vet-stem.com</a>) and click on the button “Vet Login” in the upper right corner of the first page. They can register and take the FREE 3 hour course online at their own pace to become credentialed. More next time on what they can learn and how that benefits all the patients they might see, especially relating to arthritis in dogs, cats and horses.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Tucker’s Quality of Life Saved</h1> <p>Bob — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:11:30 +0000</p> <p>Tucker was a 4 year old Boxer who was EXPLOSIVE in his energy level. He would run and play outside for 4-6 hours a day. One day he saw a cat and followed it off a 12 foot embankment at a dead run. He sailed through the air and when he landed his right rear leg buckled. When he got up he was limping and it got worse after a few days, so his pet parents, Larry and Robbi, took him to the vet and he was put on anti-inflammatory medication.</p> <p>This process went on and off for the next 12 months as his hind leg deteriorated to the point that he could not walk up steps and stopped playing outside. He did not want to go on walks anymore, other than to go outside and take care of Business. His pet parents were scared that he would not be able to walk at all in 6-12 more months. Tucker’s vet Dr. Christi Juliano, at Community Animal Hospital of Poughkeepsie, told Larry and Robbi about Vet-Stem and 1 month past his 5<sup>th</sup> birthday they did the procedure.</p> <p>Well, it took 6 months to fully take effect, but he went back to his old self of running, jumping, and playing for hours outside. It was 2 years on February 5<sup>th</sup>, 2012 since he had the procedure and he is like a young Boxer again.</p> <p>Stories like this are why we do what we do!</p> <p>We are so happy to be a part of your life, Tucker!</p> <div id="attachment_2129" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Tucker-Tongue.jpg"></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Living the Dream!</p></div> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><a class="a2a_dd a2a_target addtoany_share_save" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arthritisindogsblog.com%2Ftuckers-quality-of-life-saved%2F&title=Tucker%E2%80%99s%20Quality%20of%20Life%20Saved" id="wpa2a_4"></a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Dogs May Rescue Dolphins-Part II</h1> <p>Bob — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:03:24 +0000</p> <p><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Dr.-Johnson-and-Dolphin.jpg"></a>My post in August last year was about the<a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/dogs-may-rescue-dolphins/" target="_blank"> first public presentation</a> on stem cell therapy in dolphins as given by Dr. Shawn Johnson at the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine in Las Vegas. The project is a funded three-year collaboration between the Office of Naval Research and Vet-Stem, Inc. to assess the regenerative capacity in bottlenose dolphins. The research project is based on over 8 years of clinical research at Vet-Stem and the practical treatment of over 4,000 dogs and 4,000 horses with adipose-derived stem cells. The published data on stem cell therapy of arthritis in dogs (<a href="http://www.vet-stem.com/pdfs/Double_Blinded_Canine_Study.pdf">http://www.vet-stem.com/pdfs/Double_Blinded_Canine_Study.pdf</a> ) was one of the key reasons the Navy contacted Vet-Stem. Dr. Johnson and I both presented this year on the success in healing skin wounds. Preliminary findings showed that stem cells improved healing in the treated wounds compared to those not treated. Now the Navy may be able to treat any wounds in Dolphins and reduce scars and improve the time it takes to heal. Future studies may evaluate the technique in treating eye, kidney, and liver disease as well as in therapy for hearing loss in the dolphin. And yes, it is incredibly cool to go work with these amazing creatures! Many great articles have been written about this groundbreaking study, one of the best is at http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i19/Marine-Mammal-Health.html</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Horse Champion a Medical Miracle after Vet-Stem Cell Therapy</h1> <p>Bob — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:30:33 +0000</p> <p>In this blog, we generally discuss arthritis in dogs. Today I wanted to share a story of arthritis in an amazing horse. Now picture, a horse is over 1000 pounds and will NOT lay down and rest on command! The owners, Liz, Sylvia and Elli, tell this story:</p> <p>“In late 2006, we noticed that Merritt, A National Champion purebred Arabian horse, was limping at the canter; then he began limping at the trot. It was determined that the cartilage in his right hind fetlock (like an ankle) had disintegrated. Before stem cell therapy, he could only walk. We consulted Dr. John McCarroll of Equine Medical Association (940 365-9325) in Pilot Point, Texas and he recommended the Vet-Stem therapy for Merritt.</p> <p>Dr. McCarroll did the procedure in August of 2007, after which we slowly began getting Merritt back into condition. He has since recovered and has steadily regained strength.</p> <p><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CP-Merritt-4.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CP-Merritt-1.jpg"></a>He began showing with Sylvia (shown riding here) in performance classes in 2008 and in 2009 placed TOP 10/19 in Purebred English Show Hack, 14-17, at Youth Nationals. He is now showing in English Show Hack and Dressage!</p> <p>CP Merritt continues to give all that he has and is never happier than when he is in the show arena. We consider him a <em>MEDICAL MIRACLE</em>!</p> <p>Vet-Stem Cell Therapy was the answer for Merritt. He is also a great example of how long the stem cell therapy can provide relief, and all while he was back in the show ring! Maybe the horses can teach the dogs a few tricks??</p> </article> <article> <h1>StemInsure Gives Me Peace of Mind</h1> <p>Bob — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:42:54 +0000</p> <p>Of course you already know about how you can store stem cells when your baby is born, right? Well cord stem cell collection in the dog is not really possible, but is there another opportunity, like maybe at the time of a spay or neuter or other elective surgery? Yes, now there is such an opportunity.</p> <p>I want to introduce Nancy Sapper. She is a dog, cat and horse owner and is also the Marketing Manager at Vet-Stem. Her story is amazing!</p> <p><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Nancy-and-Zeke.jpg"></a>Hi All,</p> <p>I am Nancy, the new Marketing Manager at Vet-Stem (I am the old Industry Relations Manager, but that’s a whole different blog!). I grabbed the blogger keyboard from Dr. Bob today to tell you about my family’s personal experience with Vet-Stem’s newest service, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a title="StemInsure" href="http://www.vet-stem.com/steminsure.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">StemInsure</span></a></span>.</p> <p>I cannot express how excited I personally am about this new service. As many of you who regularly follow us on Facebook and Twitter know, Boomer, the mini Australian Shepherd, has been featured there frequently. Boomer is my daughter’s dog.</p> <div> <p>Boomer was a gift to our family but forged a special bond with then 11 year old Kaley. <span id="more-2019"></span>Our neighbor has an agility class once per week and Kaley asked if she could start Boomer, at about 9 months of age, just to give him some exercise. Well, both Kaley, and Boomer, thrived at it. I was somewhat hesitant because working here at Vet-Stem, I frequently hear about cases of dog athletes getting injured doing what they love and the stories are heart-wrenching. I had some major concerns, but mostly, I didn’t want to see Kaley, or Boomer, go through that! In the case where they are injured, a veterinarian will examine the dog for appropriateness of treatment and determine if they are healthy enough for surgery, and if they are, they go through the collection procedure to be able to obtain their stem cells. While that process works very well, the exciting part for me with Boomer is that <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a title="StemInsure" href="http://www.vet-stem.com/steminsure.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">STEMINSURE</span></a></span> allows the collection procedure to be done concurrently with a planned, anesthetized, procedure and the stem cells are banked, then grown, when your dog needs them; say when they have blown something out giving their all for you during an agility trial.</p> <p><a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Baby-Boomer-for-Blog.png"></a></p> <p>When Boomer was neutered, his veterinarian took a small sample (about the size of a grape) from his falciform ligament, Vet-Stem processed it and cryopreserved it, here in our sterile environment. Much like the ability to store umbilical cord blood, Boomer now has his OWN stem cells waiting to be thawed and grown if he ever needs them. He NEVER has to go through another surgery to collect his cells! He can use them for an injury, arthritis, or maybe even something that will be discovered that we don’t even know stem cells can help him with yet!</p> <p>The procedure is much less expensive than a separate surgery and collection. Our vet worked with us every step of the way and storage of the StemInsure sample costs about the price of 10 Starbucks coffees every year ($50 banking fee to retain the cells). I have peace of mind in the freezer for Boomer!<a href="http://www.arthritisindogsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Champion-Boomer-for-Blog.jpg"></a></p> <p>Kaley and Boomer participated in their first Agility Competition in February. They won first place in the Junior Handler Division! I am so grateful that I have peace of mind to let them do what they love.</p> <p>Take a look at the new<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> <a title="StemInsure" href="http://www.vet-stem.com/steminsure.php" target="_blank">StemInsure</a> </span>webpage. We would love to hear your comments!</p> </div> </article> </main></body></html>