Dog & Cat Success Stories

Description: In September of 2022, Hex, my 1.5 year old Cardigan Welsh Corgi seemed to be well on her way to agility success - in a few short months, she'd progressed from the Novice level of AKC agility through all of the beginner titles (Open and Excellent) and was just about ready to start competing against more experienced dogs at the Master level of competition. The week before her Master level debut, she came in from a play session in my yard limping. She initially responded well to anti-inflammatories, but a veterinarian friend noticed that she still had reduced range of motion and recommended that I take her to Veterinary Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Group in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. After seeing Dr. Sherman Canapp, Hex was diagnosed with a left side traumatic grade 2 medial glenohumeral ligament tear, focal capsular tear with torn cartilage in region of caudal humeral head (from her diagnostic notes) as well as some minor irregularities in her elbows. I was devastated. Dr. Canapp recommended radio-frequency treatment and intra-articular HA injections but advised stem cells as the best way to promote healing and return her to her previous level of training. Unfortunately, at 22 pounds Hex was too small to obtain stem cells from bone marrow. Fortunately, Dr. Canapp and his team remembered that VetStem was able to harvest stem cells from fat tissue and VOSM was able to establish a relationship with VetStem in a matter of hours. Hex underwent arthroscopic surgery and fat cell harvesting on October 5, 2022. On November 29, 2022, Hex returned to VOSM for her VetStem treatment. After 5 months of hobbles and extremely limited activity, she was cleared to return to training on February 28, 2023. Comments: After VetStem Cell Therapy and a lengthy rehab regimen guided by Ria Acciani, Hex's amazing PT, I am grateful and excited to report that Hex is back running agility at the highest levels! One year after her injury, we returned to agility competition. We took things slowly, but she has never looked back - running better than before with a visible improvement in her jumping form and in her performance of the obstacles. Agility is a tough sport and can be even harder for dogs (like Corgis) that aren't really built for lots of jumping or running up and down A-frames at high speed, but with careful strength and fitness training and stem cells from VetStem, Hex is holding her own competitively, trialing almost every weekend. On Saturday November 2, 2024, Hex completed her Master Agility Champion title (MACH) and she will be competing in the AKC Agility Invitational in December 2024. Most importantly, though, Hex is happy and sound. I know that VetStem Cell Therapy has been a critical part of Hex's return to sport and I sleep better at night knowing that Hex's stem cells are banked and ready should we need to use them in the future.