Stem Cell Therapy

 $2,500-$3,000

Vet Stem Regenerative Medicine is a term used to describe medical therapies that enable the body to repair and regenerate damaged or diseased tissues. Stem cells are used to treat a variety of traumatic and degenerative disease such as tendon and ligament injuries, osteoarthritis, fractured bones and joint diseases. They are currently investigating the use of stem cells in diseases such as chronic renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease and other life threatening conditions. Stem cells cannot be used to treat or cure cancer in pets at this time.

Stem cells are derived from an animals own adipose (fat) cells or from healthy animals of the same species. They are available for treatment of a condition approximately 48 hours after they are retrieved. Well over 3,500 dogs have been treated with stem cell therapy since 2006.

An outline of Stem Cell Therapy procedure:

• If stem cells are derived from a patient’s own adipose tissue they are put under anesthesia for the retrieval
  • There will be a small incision from where the tissue samples are retrieved.
  • The majority of owners whose pets have undergone the retrieval process report little to no discomfort with the sample retrieval and incision healing.
• Patients go home the same day the tissue samples are taken and return a few days later for the injection.
• Multiple treatments are derived from a single sample and the additional treatments are banked for future use.
  • Cell culturing is also available which provides additional doses for the lifetime of an animal
• Samples can be obtained from pets at the time they are spayed and neutered and can be banked for use later in life
  • As our pets age they are more predisposed to debilitating diseases or conditions such as osteoarthritis. By banking samples at the time they are spayed or neutered they do not have to undergo anesthesia at an advanced age for the retrieval of samples.
  • Banking samples earlier

Below are some of the estimated costs for stem cell therapy thru Vet Stem, these costs are estimates and may vary based on a patient’s weight and needs. The estimates do include the sedation/anesthesia to retrieve the samples, the processing of the samples and the injection of the stem cells.

• Obtaining and banking doses at the time your pet is spayed or neutered
• Processing the samples, preparing the doses and banking doses for 1 year
• Obtaining banked doses for later use on a patient
  • These are doses not used in the initial treatment and are saved for future use.
• Annual Banking Fee
  • Samples are kept for 1 year after they are retrieved; this cost is included in the initial stem cell fee. After 1 year there is a fee associated with continuing to maintain the samples.
• Obtaining stem cell injections derived from healthy animals of the same species and receiving those injections.