Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells are powerful healing cells in your body that are capable of becoming other types of cells. There are many adult stem cells in fat tissue, however, they are dormant, or “asleep.” MediVet’s stem cell therapy allows the Veterinary Healing Center team to isolate stem cells from your pet’s own tissue. We then “wake” these cells up, and reinject them directly into damaged areas. For example, in the case of arthritis, stem cells develop into new cartilage cells, thereby reducing pain and increasing mobility.
What is so great about Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cells treat the source of the problem by becoming new tissue and replacing damaged tissue. Other treatment methods, such as NSAIDs, merely attempt to reduce symptoms. Stem cell therapy is very low risk because it uses the animal’s own stem cells. With MediVet’s technology, over 95% of animals treated have shown improvement.
How long has this been available?
Stem cell therapy has been commercially available for animals since 2004. MediVet started selling their kits in the US in 2010, to clinics on the mainland. Since that time, thousands of animals have been successfully treated around the world. A MediVet representative now lives in Hawaii and began introducing it to clinics here in 2012.
I’ve heard about other stem cell companies. Which one is best?
Is stem cell therapy safe for pets?
Yes, stem cell therapy is very safe. The biggest risk is using anesthetic, which is require in order to remove the tissue. On a typical dog, this is easier than a spay, and the fat is collected in about 15 minutes by your vet. The sample is processed carefully by a highly trained MediVet representative (or by a lab tech carefully trained by that representative). In the thousands of animals treated, we have not observed any negative side-effects from MediVet’s stem cell therapy.
What happens to my pet when they come in for stem cell therapy?
First, your vet will place your pet under general anesthetic. Then, he/she will make a small incision and collect 2-4 tablespoons of fat (either from the belly or behind the shoulder blades). Since your pet is under anesthetic, this is a great opportunity to perform other desired or recommended procedures, such as spay/neuter, or dental for example.
Your local, highly trained MediVet representative will then process the sample, right in the clinic, using MediVet equipment. After about 3 hours, the cells are ready for injection into areas of damage. In addition, some cells are administered intravenously. For the administration step, your pet will either not be sedated at all, locally anesthetized with ethyl chloride spray, or lightly sedated, depending on what we deem is best. Your pet will be ready to go home later that same day.
What is the recovery period, and how long does it take to see results?
What conditions do you treat?
Our typical patient has osteoarthritis (hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease, calcifications, common degeneration and inflammation), soft tissue injuries (cruciate injuries, tears, ruptures, inflammation), or needs accelerated healing of fractures. We know a lot about these conditions, and over 95% of these patients get better, thanks to stem cell therapy.
We also treat other cases under “compassionate use”. We know less about these conditions, but are seeing some exciting results. Some of those conditions are: degenerative myelopathy, feline gingivitis, end-stage renal disease, liver and kidney failure, allergy, auto-immune, inflammatory bowel disease, pulmonary fibrosis, IMHA, atopy, and spine trauma. If you have questions about any of these conditions, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.
Are there any animals that you don’t treat?
Because we don’t know exactly what happens when cancer patients are treated with stem cells, based on human studies, we do not treat those patients.
Curious about whether stem cell therapy would be a good option for your furry family member? Contact Veterinary Healing Center of El Dorado Hills today to learn more!