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Happy Valley Animal Hospital of Arizona Pet Vet Helps a Local Pet Start the New Year with the Resolution; Play More

2014-01-24 --

Floppy, a nine year old Dachshund, struggled to get up from a laying position before his recent stem cell therapy at Happy Valley Animal Hospital.  The pain from arthritis was so bad he was reluctant to move much at all, even when encouraged by his family.  This holiday season Floppy’s owners gifted him with ‘quality of life.’  Now he’s bringing in the New Year with less pain and more ability to run and play again. 

Floppy had been suffering from osteoarthritis in his hips and knees long enough that it was affecting other joints in his hind end.  He had difficulty getting up after sitting, limped, and exhibited stiffness.  Happy Valley Animal Hospital’s Dr. Victor Saltzman determined Floppy was a great candidate for stem cell therapy using Vet-Stem services, and in early December scheduled Floppy for a small fat tissue collection to start the process.  Floppy’s fat was overnighted to Vet-Stem’s lab in San Diego, California where it was processed into injectable doses of Floppy’s own stem cells.  In 48 hours Dr. Saltzman received the doses back and had started Floppy on his way to recovery. 

“We are extremely pleased with the results.  The level of pain and stiffness has decreased dramatically.  It’s almost like he’s a puppy again!  There is a night and day difference in his ability to move around and perform everyday tasks.  He will occasionally get sore after a long day of activity, but it’s 1000% better than before his stem cell therapy,” – the Sobols.

Just two weeks after the stem cell injections Dr. Saltzman and the team at Happy Valley Animal Hospital received a video of Floppy running happily around the backyard, enjoying his recovered range of motion and obvious lack of pain.  Although results can vary, the first peer reviewed double-blinded multicenter study for adipose-derived (fat originating) stem cell therapy use in osteoarthritis of the hip in dogs showed positive results for lameness, pain, and range of motion.  Similar results have been obtained for elbows and stifles in dogs, of which stifles were a secondary area of arthritis and pain for Floppy.

Stem cells decrease pain and inflammation.  Stem cells are multi-potent and can differentiate into tendon, ligament, bone, cartilage, and other tissue.  The hope is that Floppy’s stem cells will also regenerate tissues in the joints that are causing him pain.   

Vet-Stem, Inc. was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the veterinary profession.  The privately held company is working to develop therapies in veterinary medicine that apply regenerative technologies while utilizing the natural healing properties inherent in all animals.  As the first company in the United States to provide an adipose-derived stem cell service to veterinarians for their patients, Vet-Stem, Inc. pioneered the use of regenerative stem cells in veterinary medicine.  For more on Vet-Stem, Inc. and Veterinary Regenerative Medicine visit www.vet-stem.com.

About Happy Valley Animal Hospital

The goal of the team at Happy Valley Animal Hospital is to provide compassionate, preventive, and top quality medical and surgical veterinary care. With the most up-to-date equipment, the team at Happy Valley Animal Hospital can provide clients and their pets in the local community with the best healthcare and service possible. By offering and maintaining these goals, the team at Happy Valley Animal Hospital hopes to enhance the lives of their clients by allowing their pets to live long, happy lives.  As a team, Happy Valley Animal Hospital always considers the client perspective and tries to put themselves in their shoes… or paws.

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