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My 5 yr old non BC dog has very bad elbow dysplasia. My vet is strongly recommending stem cell therapy where they harvested from the dog send it to California where it they process send back to vet to be injected into the joint. I understand that this is also used for horses and to treat dog hip dysplasia. Has anyone here done this? Has it been successful? My dog is not a candidate for surgery. If you did it and it is successful - how long did it last? Thanks for any information.

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I just pm'd Scullywags about this same treatmeant for a muscle injury her dog has suffered. My friend has just had this done to her dog after spending over 2 or 3 years trying to get her dog treatmeant for his muscle injury.

 

After one injection her dog is showing great improvement. The vet she is using is albe to harvest the stem cells himself so he's not having to send anything off, it's all being done in a day. A long day but a day.

 

Amazing as I've watched her drain her wallet for years trying to fix her dog, this isn't cheap but compared to what she's already spent, it's working and should not have to be done more than 2 times or so.

 

Hope you find it works for you as well as it did my friends dog.

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Price range is about right. My concern is- search the internet for how effective the treatment is, you get 95 % of information coming from the three largest companies marketing the product. Lots of testimonials - but then you realize that everyone of them is part of the marketing plan. I couldn't find significant testing ( I don't think a test size of 20 dogs works). Also, a lot of "it works" is owner observation. I am sorry - but I look at my dog after I start her on something new and I so hope to see improvements that I think a lot of the time I wish it. I want somebody to do a blind test with measureable success results. I was hoping for some first hand knowledge of - I did it two years ago, major improvement, and that improvement continues today. I guess I am just dreaming.

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I think my friends initial investment was somewhere around 600 and that was for the anesthesia, ultrasound, the harvesting of stemcells and the injection. The vet and maybe the university did the stemcells mixing and whatever related to the procedure. Friend went back a few weeks later for more diagnostic testing to see if it was working. The vet said he could see tissue or muscle regeneration and did not do another injection. Friend can definitely see a difference.

I will talk to her and find out more of the particulars. And report back, I'm sure I'm not explaining all she told me correctly. I know she's several thousand dollars into trying to get her dog right. This wasn't that much more of an investment all things considered. I'm pretty sure it was close to 600 not thousands, but I could be wrong.

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We did this for Odin as a part of his OCD treatment plan. I think we got a deal due to the $5000 surgery for OCD! Like Kristen I believe our initial investment was about $600, but there were other fees for the cryo bank etc. Our ortho pushed it pretty hard, mainly as an arthritis preventive which is a big issue with reconstructed OCD shoulders.

 

I can't tell you whether it worked or not, but Odin's shoulder damage was so bad the vet could not to laproscopic surgery which was unusual and had to fully "butterfly" the joint. After he healed, I have never noticed a single issue with his shoulder/gait or anything. He is 4 now so it was 3.5 years ago. Howeve, we'd probably expect real arthritis issues to show up later in life, right? He has full range of motion and never any swelling or problems like that. So maybe it worked. OR maybe it did nothing and it was just a good heal from the surgery, who knows. We still have cells left over for an arthritis treatment down the line too, but we pay $150 or something per year to keep them.

 

I was glad to have known I gave him the best chance *I* could given what my vet was telling me at the time. But if it were to come up again I'd figure out what the MOST recent research said today (we did this in 2008). It was a NASTY incision to harvest the cells from fat tissues in his lower stomach area and as far as I could tell that caused him more pain than the shoulder incisions. JM2C

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My question would be if this works so well in all kinds of mammals, why don´t I see widespread use of this therapy in treatment of human beings?

 

I believe it's not yet legal in the US, except for testing done in clinical trials. Huge debates and controversy over the topic. I believe it is being used in other countries though (in humans).

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My question would be if this works so well in all kinds of mammals, why don´t I see widespread use of this therapy in treatment of human beings?

 

Over here, it is called the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). They control approval for drugs, medical devices, etc. I am guessing that stem cell therapy would fall under their auspices.

 

On a side note: I remember that about 15 years ago (when I kept up with these things), the cost to bring a drug to market - from development through Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3 trials - was pegged at $600-$800 million. I can't imagine what the cost is now.

 

Jovi

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So happens my friend worked for phizer (sp?) So she did lots of her own research. As soon as I talk to her I will get her scoop. I was under the impression that getting stemcells from her dog was done with some type aspiration needle, not surgery. I'll find out more when she get home from her vacation.

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