Stem Cells Rejuvenating Arthritic Dogs

[Boronia]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-08/stem-cells-rejuvenating-arthritic-dogs/3382158

Australian vets say they are having great success treating arthritic dogs with stem cells and researchers developing arthritis treatments for humans are taking a keen interest in the technique.

The trouble is that some dog owners feel their four-legged friends are getting better treatment than they are.

Melbourne vet Ray Ferguson has had a particular interest in treating arthritic dogs for about 30 years.

At first he was sceptical of the benefits of canine stem cell treatment, but he has now treated about 40 dogs.

"For individual joints where a dog has one bad knee or one bad elbow, the treatments are very simple," he said.

"A very, very light anaesthetic and we pop an injection of the stem cells straight into the joint and it's all over in about five minutes."

Dr Ferguson says the stem cells come from donor dogs.

"These largely come from dogs that are being de-sexed, they're all young dogs so we've got young, vibrant cells," he said.

Dr Ferguson says preliminary trials involved dogs with skin disease and joint disease being injected with stem cells as well, but the arthritic dogs responded best of all.

"Particularly in the early trials I did five dogs, one of which was my own that had I would say incurable lameness, persistent lameness," he said.

"They all responded and those five dogs are all sound today. That's amazing."

The stem cell treatment costs between $1,500 and $3,000.

Audio: Stem cells rejuvenating arthritic dogs (AM)

Dr Ferguson says he tells dog owners the stem cell treatment works best on younger dogs but dogs up to about 10 years of age are also responding well.

"I have to point out to them, look I'm not offering a fountain of youth. This isn't going to turn an old dog into young dog," he said.

"But it's just a wonderful, adjunctive therapy to have to everything else that we've got."

Humans 'getting jealous'

Professor Richard Boyd is the director of Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University.

He says the stem cell treatment of dogs is helping researchers understand the effect similar treatment would have on humans.

"Their lives are constrained into 10 or 15 years and that reflects a human going from up to 70 or 80 years," he said.

"So the conditions which are generative which a dog gets in 10 years like arthritic hips and joints is very similar to what ageing humans get.

"So we can treat these dogs and improve their health using these stem cells. But it has a double-edged advantage of being able to say to our clinicians, look we've done now 8,000 animals.

"This is a basic very good basis to being able to treat humans."

Professor Boyd says the dogs may actually be getting the better and more innovative treatment than a lot of Australians.

"The retired senior who's taking the rejuvenated dog for a walk is now getting jealous," he said.

"But I think that what we will see certainly soon is that this is sort of like the winter of stem cell research, it's now becoming the spring of stem cell therapy.

"So hopefully we'll get a retired senior and a retired dog both walking briskly along the beach."

[Teebs]

My vet is doing this, i have talked to a few owners who have had it done on their dogs and they said the improvement is amazing

[Inevitablue]

:D

Prof Richard Boyd is an amazing scientist.

We have made the cells even cheaper now, so the cost can be even lower than the $1500 - $3000, obviously depending on investigative work your vet might have already performed (ie x rays). The more expensive cells are the ones given by IV, as a much larger volume is required, but treating 2 joints by injecting into the joint is becoming much more affordable.

Any vet in Australia can order the cells If anyone wants more info look here http://www.australianstemcells.com.au/

If a vet isn't interested in using stem cells, just contact us and we can tell you who is using them, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sorry if I jump on these threads, but I want the people who are curious to know where they can get information and treatments. This technology is so exciting, and will be commonplace over the next few years, both with humans and animals.

Edited October 8, 2011 by Inevitablue

[Teebs]

I have asked my vet if i can pay for them to do it on dad see if they can help his back

[sumosmum]

That sounds really great. I wonder if there is any downside to this, as in possible bad side effects.

[Inevitablue]

There have been none reported. The only issue that Im aware of has been when a particular vet was worried about getting into the joint and kept reintroducing the same needle 5 times into the one joint. I was told it was a poorly prepped leg too. So that's a user error, and unrelated to the safety of the cells. The dog ended up with an infection which required antibiotics.

[Christineshadow]

I think this is such a great medical advancement for ageing dogs. In the next few years it would be improved even more.

I wish it was around when my dog first starting showing signs of arthritis, apparently it's meant to be administered early on. Once arthritis gets worse it doesn't really work.

But it would be so worth every penny to see your dog moving freely and no signs of pain (or at least significantly reduced!)

[westielover]

My 11 year old westie had this treatment in May this year. He seems much more comfortable now.

[Kiara&Heidi]

My 11 year old westie had this treatment in May this year. He seems much more comfortable now.

What vet did he have it done at Westielover? And, if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? I am considering having it done for Kiara in a year or so.

[RubyBlue]

I have asked my vet if i can pay for them to do it on dad see if they can help his back

hmmm....you may have trouble find a young healthy human undergoing a desex op....

[RubyBlue]

I think this is such a great medical advancement for ageing dogs. In the next few years it would be improved even more.

I wish it was around when my dog first starting showing signs of arthritis, apparently it's meant to be administered early on. Once arthritis gets worse it doesn't really work.

But it would be so worth every penny to see your dog moving freely and no signs of pain (or at least significantly reduced!)

Same, my poor old boy suffered terribly - the best we could do was keep him 'high'. I'll definitely be looking into when my other one starts showing signs of arthritis.

[huskies4life88]

my poor girl suffers everyday from it, her medication is helping a bit, im glad they are trying to find more options

[abgail]

I have my boy booked in for stem cell next Friday. He is arthritic and has hip dysplasia. I have spoken to a couple of other people who have had it done and they are more than happy with the results. Mine will cost about $2000. all done. I just have to drop him of in the morning and i can pick him up that afternoon all finished and on the way to recovery and pain relief. I'm pretty excited and can't wait for that sparkle in his eyes to return.

[Inevitablue]

Abgail, I'm sure your boy will appreciate it! You will see a brighter, happier dog within a few days.

Is he having an operation to harvest fat, or are you using the cultured cells?

[Kiara&Heidi]

I have my boy booked in for stem cell next Friday. He is arthritic and has hip dysplasia. I have spoken to a couple of other people who have had it done and they are more than happy with the results. Mine will cost about $2000. all done. I just have to drop him of in the morning and i can pick him up that afternoon all finished and on the way to recovery and pain relief. I'm pretty excited and can't wait for that sparkle in his eyes to return.

Are you just having his hips done? Keep us updated on his progress, I would love to hear about it Good luck with it all!

[Kiara&Heidi]

Inevitablue - if they use cultured cells does the dog have to have immunosuppressant drugs, and is there any difference apart from the fact that the dog doesn't need an opeartion to harvest fat first? Thanks

[abgail]

Abgail, I'm sure your boy will appreciate it! You will see a brighter, happier dog within a few days.

Is he having an operation to harvest fat, or are you using the cultured cells?

Hi Inevitable. We are booked in for the same day procedure where the vet collects

the pets own fat which contains his own cells. After the cells are processed, they are

injected back into the problem joints. The vet said the whole procedure takes about 4

hours. My fella has hip dysplasia and arthritis in 2 joints. The rep. from the company

sent me some videos links to watch and its amazing how far animal treatment has come

and where we are heading with stem cell treatment. Can't wait.

[Inevitablue]

Inevitablue - if they use cultured cells does the dog have to have immunosuppressant drugs, and is there any difference apart from the fact that the dog doesn't need an opeartion to harvest fat first? Thanks

No, as pure mesenchymal stem cells are immuno privileged, they don't trigger the immune system. They really are multi functional cells.

The difference is, apart from the dog not having to have a 4-6inch scar, the cultured system is just pure stem cells. Harvesting the fat produces a mix of cells, with on average (depending on age) 30% stem cells. Hence why that system cannot transfer between dogs.

As stem cells are finite, just like the entire body, we believe it makes sense to take cells from a young healthy dog, whose cells have not been through multiple mitotic divisions.

We did a Bull Mastiff two weeks ago, severe arthritis in the hips, and now already he is vastly improved. I need to start taking before and after videos! His two hips cost $1100 - final cost to the owner

[ness]

Sounds very promising Inevitablue .

[Inevitablue]

Abgail, I'm sure your boy will appreciate it! You will see a brighter, happier dog within a few days.

Is he having an operation to harvest fat, or are you using the cultured cells?

Hi Inevitable. We are booked in for the same day procedure where the vet collects

the pets own fat which contains his own cells. After the cells are processed, they are

injected back into the problem joints. The vet said the whole procedure takes about 4

hours. My fella has hip dysplasia and arthritis in 2 joints. The rep. from the company

sent me some videos links to watch and its amazing how far animal treatment has come

and where we are heading with stem cell treatment. Can't wait.

Before being involved with Monash Uni, I was involved with the fat harvest method. We got some really fantastic results. Many really, really happy clients.

Your boy is really going to appreciate it! (just remember, no non steroidal anti inflammatory medication for a week beforehand - Rimadyl, Previcox, Metacam etc). You want strong signaling so the cells stay in the area and do their job!