We are proud to be one of the first practices in Northwest Ohio to offer Stem Cell Treatment, Platelet Rich Plasma Injections, Laser Physical Therapy for joint conditions, wounds, allergies and many more conditions. We are also proud to offer Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation for our spinal conditions that need more than just a pill!
What is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cells are powerful healing cells in your pet’s body that can become other types of cells. Stem cells reduce inflammation, fight cell death, differentiate into multiple tissues such as bone, fat, cartilage, and replicate themselves. Stem Cell Therapy uses you pet’s own dormant stem cells reserved in fatty tissue and “wakes them up” to fight damaged areas in the body.
What is so great about Stem Cell Therapy
Unlike other treatments such as drugs used to reduce the symptoms, Stem Cells treat the source of the problem by becoming new tissue to replace the old damaged tissue. The treatment is very low risk because it uses your pets own stem cells. 95% of animals treated show improvement!
Is Stem Cell Therapy safe for my pet?
Yes, the procedure is very safe. The largest risk is using anesthetic to remove the fatty tissue. The collection procedure only lasts about 20 minutes and after Stem Cell purification and reintroduction, your pet goes home the same day!
What happens on my Pet’s Stem Cell Therapy Day?
Prior to your pet’s Stem Cell Day, preliminary bloodwork and x-rays are performed to make sure your pet will do well under anesthesia and shows no overt evidence of significant disease such as cancer. On the Stem Cell Day, your pet will undergo general anesthesia where we will remove 20 – 40 grams of adipose tissue (fat) either from the belly or behind the shoulder area. The adipose tissue will then be prepared to extract the stem cells. After about 3 hours, the stem cells will be ready for reintroduction into the affected areas or into IV circulation. A light sedation with proper sterilization may be needed when injecting the stem cells into a joint. After that, the pet may go home later that day.
How is the recovery and when could I expect results?
We recommend that you keep your pet quiet for about 10 days and return for suture removal (if needed) at the end of 10 days. We typically see improvement starting after 3 weeks, and then continuing up to two months.
What conditions do you treat with Stem Cell Therapy?
We treat patients with osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease, calcifications, generalized inflammatory conditions, soft tissue injuries, fractures and tendon tears/ruptures.
We also treat other cases fall into a “compassionate use” category. Examples of these are degenerative myelopathy, feline or canine gingivitis/stomatitis, end-stage renal disease, liver and kidney failure, auto-immune disorders, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pulmonary fibrosis, IMHA, atopic dermatitis, and spinal trauma.
How long will the treatment last?
We typically see relief lasting from 1-3 years after initial treatment. Most pet owners chose to bank their pet’s stem cells to be used in the future. This is easy to do and removes the need for further surgical harvesting of adipose tissue.
Who would not be treated with Stem Cell Therapy?
In short, any patient that may have active cancer. We don’t know exactly what happens when cancer patients are treated with stem cells based on human studies.
At St. Francis Veterinary Hospital, we strive to offer the best medicine for your pet. Our priority is always “to do no harm”. Stem Cell Therapy allows us to bring safe effective treatment with reasonable cost to our clientele. Please let us know if you have any further questions. 419-824-8177 or email at StFrancisVetHospital@gmail.com
