Has anyone done stem cell treatment for hip arthritis? (outdoorschik)

I have no personal experience with it but I know it can really help.  I've got an appt for Billy and Tink tomorrow with Dr. Demers (the homeopath) and I'll ask him what he thinks -- and he should know if the company is reputable.  It's pretty cutting edge stuff.

 Give my nephew-dog a big old hug from Aunt Callie will ya??  He's still my favorite boy!!

I know that "Babelfish" has dealt with stem cell therapy in one of her dogs.  You might want to pm her.

 Callie -

I'll give him a big hug for ya! Let me know what your doc says. I've got an appt. with my vet who does a lot of alt. stuff on Monday where I'll discuss it. I'm going to ask for an x-ray of his hips to see how bad they look on film. He holds his back legs up while swimming now so that no-impact excercise is of no benefit!. I don't want them to be too far gone before I research my options. My vet is not listed as certified, but on the site it seems they offer vets a free three hour online cert course and then they can offer it in their practice.  Based on Oliver's hip situation (after the TPO his hips were still loose and pop in and out once in a while) I might have to do it a couple times in his lifetime, but it'd still be cheaper and less invasive than a replacement... hopefully less fraught with possible things to go wrong as well? He's a bit big for an FHO and gosh I'd hate to do that to him.

 Amanda- I'll pm that person, thanks!!

 I'd love to hear what you find out. Miss Emma might really benefit from something like this, in the next year or two.

outdoorschik

I'll give him a big hug for ya! Let me know what your doc says. I've got an appt. with my vet who does a lot of alt. stuff on Monday where I'll discuss it. I'm going to ask for an x-ray of his hips to see how bad they look on film. He holds his back legs up while swimming now so that no-impact excercise is of no benefit!. I don't want them to be too far gone before I research my options. My vet is not listed as certified, but on the site it seems they offer vets a free three hour online cert course and then they can offer it in their practice.  Based on Oliver's hip situation (after the TPO his hips were still loose and pop in and out once in a while) I might have to do it a couple times in his lifetime, but it'd still be cheaper and less invasive than a replacement... hopefully less fraught with possible things to go wrong as well? He's a bit big for an FHO and gosh I'd hate to do that to him.

Dr. Demers rocks -- I talked to him about Oliver for quite a while.

Stem cell stuff (and that IS a good company) can help a lot BUT -- since Oliver's is primarily structureal, you may not see a whole bunch of good from what will likely be a pretty expensive therapy.  Because if the structure is just a problem, then bone is gonna keep rubbing on bone, and you're gonna keep having problems. 

HOWEVER -- his suggestion was a *good* acupuncturist or his **best** suggestion was gold bead implant therapy.  The gold bead implant therapy can really be beneficial in cases where there is structural problems because the gold beads act as an anti-inflammatory to help reduce that inflammation that's *going to* occur.

He gave me the name of a vet who is a friend of his who is about an hour north of Boston -- it's a ways from you, but Dr. Demers thot that if you contacted this guy, he might at least be able to tell you who IS good in your area.  But he really was afraid that if Oliver's structural issues are the root of this, that it wasn't going to make a huge difference with the stem cell therapy -- that you might see something like only maybe a 10% - 15% "difference" but probably not the relief from pain you wanted.

He emphasized that stem cell therapy IS awesome stuff -- particularly if you are dealing with "normal" types of arthritis. 

If gold bead implants are an option, and you have questions, let me know.  We've been through it with Bevo, although his implants are in his neck.

Hmmm... interesting. Would you email me the name of that guy puh-lease? I need a road trip to Florida :) to go right to the source! He makes a very good point on the structural vs pure arthritis. I was wondering about that. Oliver's main problem in one of his hips is that it was too far gone arthritis wise to make TPO wise and pain free. My thought was since that one is in the right place technically though damaged, the stem cells might help. The other I figured bone on bone is always going to occur though if I were to bank some cells like they allow and supplement up the wazoo I might be able to get some life out of whatever cartilage forms and then do it again when the pain returns noticeably (after the surgery it kept popping but it wasn't arthritic and limiting until about a year ago so I'd guess we got 2-3 years out of it?) I also wondered if the ligament might tighten up like it was supposed to? That might be way too wishfull thinking though...it's not magic I know lol. Editted to add... i'd be happy if he had one good hip, three legs is better than two :)

 Amanda, how has the gold bead implants benefitted your dog? Is it noticable? 

Bevo has benefitted greatly from gold bead implants, & the benefits are noticable every day. 

Bev is a wobbler.  After an injury he flared up.  When he layed down, he couldn't get comfortable.  It got to the point that he would whine while he was laying down because he was so painful.  (This dog is absolutely stoic, so any time he whines you know that something is seriously wrong.)  When he was up trying to move around, he would stumble & slip around.  His back end would get away from him.  (He had no hind end awareness.)  His back feet would also knuckle under when he tried to walk.  After numerous mylegrams & a MRI he was diagnosed as a wobbler.  He has 2 different malformations of vertebra in his neck.  The worst malformation is where his neck ties into his shoulders.  Surgery isn't an option because a surgeon can't get to that location. 

We started him on steroids, which helped some, but he was still very unstable.  Then we added acupuncture.  Acupuncture was an absolute godsend for us.  After his first session, he walked out of the clinic looking like the Bevo of old, as opposed to the stumbling, painful mess that he had become.  After our second acupuncture visit, the vet recommended that we look into gold bead implants because of how much Bevo benefitted from their acupuncture sessions.  After a little research, & a long talk with his vet, we opted to have gold bead implants.

My DH & Bevo flew to Indiana to have the implants done.  They came home 4 days later, bandaged & braced for 6 weeeks, but my dog could walk normally once again.  Aside from an autoimmune problem that made him lame due to muscle wasting, Bevo has been absolutely normal since having the implants placed.  He runs.  He plays.  He does almost everything that he did before the wobblers diagnosis.  He doesn't play ball any more because I dont want him diving after a ball & accidentally injuring himself, & he no longer gets to jump in & out of the vehicles.  Honestly, those are things that he & I can both live with out, & it's a small price to pay for an otherwise "normal" dog.  He's had the implants for a little over a year, & he has not had to take a single dose of prednisone for wobblers since getting the implants.  (He was on pred for the autoimmune issue for a while.) 

I would recommend gold bead implants.  I didn't expect for my boy to be alive today, but thanks to the implants, he's alive, active, & actually, mumbling right now because he's ready to go hiking!

Good luck with Oliver.  I hope that you find the right course of treatment for him, so that he can live a happy, pain free life.

Have I mentioned I love my vet? He's going to consult with vet-stem in person about Oliver and consult other holistic vets about the options of gold bead vs. stem at the next Holistic Vet Association Conference in September! I'll meet back with him in october to decide a course of action. In the meantime I'm going to do a short course of Previcox to reduce inflammation and see how he does, then as needed.

Hey Olly-VAH (**big hugs BUDDY!!*) it's Aunt Callie.

 Tell Mom if you need more White Flower Oil ta just SAY SO!!!  Or maybe we can just plain do peppermint oil??  Billy sez HEY OLLI-VAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Callie, could you email me the name of the vet your vet suggested please? Oliver's gonna get a white flower oil rub tonight ... it IS stinky tho lol. It is HOT here... I don't know how you live in Florida, this is misery.

*I* turn my air up!! THAT's how I live in Flooor-daaa!!!

But the White Flower will also cool him off -- it's a hot/cold kinda thing.  I can be sweating and pull the covers up over me at the same time when I rub it on.

I will email you that name tomorrow.