San Juan Veterinary Clinic recently began to offer Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell (VSRC) therapy, a procedure to isolate stem and regenerative cells from an animal’s own fat for use in therapeutic injections to injured tissue. Currently, the treatment is available to horses, dogs and cats.
The clinic is the only office in Montrose that provides VSRC therapy. Based on a recent search of Vet-Stem Inc.’s database, about 38 of roughly 3,000 Colorado veterinarians are registered to use the technology.
 Veterinarians for the San Juan Veterinarian Clinic from left, Teresa Petterson and Chris Franklin, practice giving a stem cell treatment on a patient Friday morning. Stem cell therapy uses a small animal’s stem cells to help repair injured tissues. There are only 38 veterinarian clinics in the state of Colorado that are certified to use the therapy. (Joel Blocker / Daily Press ) Advertisement |
The therapy’s uses include treatment of: ligament and tendon injuries and osteoarthritis. Stem cell therapy stimulates healthy cell growth within injured areas, spurring regeneration, Vet-Stem noted.
The procedure begins with an extraction of fat tissue after the animal has been put under general anesthesia. Harvesting takes place from areas including behind the shoulder or from the abdomen, said Dr. Teresa Petterson, D.V.M. This first step takes about 30 minutes.
“The dog would come in in the morning and be ready to go that afternoon, generally,” Franklin said. After samples are collected, they are sent overnight to Vet-Stem in California. The company extracts and prepares the cells needed, and sends those cells back to the clinic within 36 to 48 hours, he said.
Frequently, enough cells are harvested that additional samples may be frozen and stored for future use on the same pet, Franklin said. “That way, if subsequent treatment is needed, we can call them and they can thaw the sample and overnight it to us.”
Based on the patient’s needs, some of those cells may be injected into particular areas, such as affected joints. Sometimes the cells are injected intravenously to address issues such as widespread arthritis. The injection stage takes less than an hour, said Petterson.
While the pets can typically return to their usual routines the day after injection is completed, the doctors suggest they rest for the afternoon or evening. “We always joke with them and tell them, ‘no operating heavy machinery for awhile,’” said Franklin.
The therapy has a low risk factor, he said. Because animals receive their own cells back, the risk of rejection or reaction is low to nonexistent, according to Vet-Stem. Minimal post-treatment inflammation can occur but there is little chance of that happening as well.
The clinic’s doctors have already performed the surgery on some dogs. They are monitoring a couple of ongoing cases.
“It’s not the overnight fix, but the information that’s out there is really supportive of the fact that it will be very beneficial,” Franklin said. “(An animal) in one case we’re watching has tremendous potential to do very, very well.”
Results from therapy usually begin to appear within a few weeks of surgery, Petterson said. “But we expect by about a month is when you start to really notice the difference.” That’s when patients come back for checkup and evaluation, she added.
VSRC therapy is not inexpensive. Because of the wide variety of patients and needs, the doctors could not provide a price range for the procedure. They asked that interested pet owners call the clinic for an estimate.
Franklin said VSRC therapy is not meant to replace other treatment for soft-tissue injuries or osteoarthritis but supplement them. The clinic also offers acupuncture and chiropractic care in addition to traditional treatments. “It’s more of a multimodal approach to pain relief and disease control,” Franklin said.
Since forming in 2002, the San-Diego based Vet-Stem, Inc. has worked with hundreds of veterinarians who have treated more than 2,500 horses and 700 dogs with VSRC therapy. In a blind, controlled study of osteoarthritis in dogs, 80 percent of the animals showed improvement.
In 2005, Vet-Stem began working with select clinics in treating dogs with osteoarthritis and orthopedic soft tissue injuries. The company launched the small animal veterinary training program in early 2008.
For further information, contact the San Juan Veterinary Clinic at 249-4490.
Contact Lisa Huynh via email at lisah@montrosepress.com
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