Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is a part of regenerative medicine which makes use of immature cells from the body that have not differentiated into a certain cell type. These are known as stem cells. Stem cells are derived from bone marrow or fat and are multi-potential and can develop into tendon, ligament, cartilage, cardiac, nerve or muscle cells, blood vessels, fat and/or liver tissue. This form of therapy has been used successfully to treat a host of soft tissue and arthritic problems in horses and dogs. We have found good results with osteoarthritis conditions of the hip, elbow and stifle (knee).
The system we use involves taking autogenous cells taken from the animal's own tissues (usually adipose-fat). Through a simple surgical procedure a small amount of tissue is removed, washed, and cells are isolated, centrifuged to get the appropriate number of stem cells, which are in turn injected back into the diseased area, usually the affected joint. Although this sounds like an involved and costly therapy it can provide an option where other conventional treatments are unsuccessful.