Stem Cell Therapy for Dog Arthritis

Modern medicine has been using stem cells for more than thirty years in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. But in the past ten years, scientists have realized the great potential of using stem cells to treat various ailments. Currently around the world, research is being done focusing on the use of stem cells to treat diabetes, spinal injury, brain damage, and heart disease. In veterinary hospitals, stem cells are now being used to treat dog and horses having orthopedic conditions.

What are Stem Cells?

What makes stem cells different from other cells is their ability to renew themselves and transform into different specialized cell types. In embryos, stem cells function as the building blocks of specialized embryonic tissue that will eventual transform into the different organs. In adult human beings, stem cells help repair the body as well as produce new cells for the skin, intestinal tissues, and blood.

Since harvesting stem cells from embryos carry with it a lot of moral, religious, and philosophical issues, stem cells used in research and in treatment are often harvested from the umbilical cord blood and bone marrow.   

Stem Cells Therapy for Dogs

Stem cell therapy for animals has advanced in leaps and bounds. Any moral or ethical controversy is eliminated since animal stem cell therapy does not use cells from embryos. Rather, stem cells are harvested from body fat. These stem cells are used to help speed up the repair of bone, ligament, and tendon damage.

Ever since the procedure was made possible in 2005, about 3000 dogs have been treated with stem cells. Clinical tests have proven that stem cell therapy is effective in controlling cartilage and bone damage caused by dog arthritis, most especially in the hips and elbow. In fact, most dog owners who have decided to use stem cell therapy on their dog are people who have not seen any improvement in their dog’s quality of life and have exhausted all other possible treatments for dog arthritis.

One company that provides stem cell therapy is MediVet. The procedure extracts fat from the dog’s shoulder, after which the stem cells are separated. These stem cells are activated and are injected into to the affected joint. MediVet assures that after the procedure, your dog will be “awake, alert, and can go home immediately.”

Therapy for Dog Arthritis  (PDF)

Treatment for Sports Dog Injuries

Dog sports are a fun way for dog owners to have their pets compete in events that test a dog’s mental and physical abilities. Unfortunately, just like human athletes, sporting dogs can get injured while competing. These injuries are usually musculoskeletal in nature, which in time, contributes to the development of dog arthritis.

Below are the three most common injuries in sporting dogs:

• Muscular trigger points or knots are painful muscle bands which can cause lameness and stiffness in the affected area. This type of injury is commonly the result of muscle fatigue or trauma.
• Neck or back pain could mean a lot of things. However, a common injury in the said area may be a result of a slipped disc. Discs are shock absorbing cushions found between the individual bones of a dog’s spine. Although they do not actually "slip," a disc may rupture, allowing the gel like substance in the affected disc to escape. The disc material can place pressure on the spinal cord or on a single nerve fiber resulting in pain.
• A knee injury usually involves the cruciate ligaments. When one of the ligaments gets torn, it causes the knee joint to be unstable. Sporting dogs competing in sprint competitions are most prone to the injury.

Treating Sports Injuries

For sports injuries, prevention is always better. Treatment, no matter how effective, is not an assurance that an injured dog can regain normal performance. Adopting a safe physical routine will help prepare your dog for the rigors of competition. Proper diet and the right kind of supplements will provide your dog with the right amounts of protein, calcium, Omega-3, vitamins E, D, and B complex are good ways to keep your sporting dog’s muscles, bones, and joints healthy.      

But if your dog does get injured, getting the correct diagnosis is essential. Trigger points can be treated with physical therapy, and massage. Slipped disc can be treated with anti-inflammatory medications and pain killers, although in severe cases, surgery can be an option. 

A tear in one of the cruciate ligament injury would most often need surgery. However, to complicate matters, there are many surgical procedures that can be used. None have been medically proven to be more effective than others but here’s my take on cruciate ligament surgery:

• Extracapsular suture. Also known as a de Angelis suture or lateral fabellotibial suture. It is a fast and effective procedure with a low complication rate, especially for small dogs.
• Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). This technique involves cutting the tibia (shin bone) so that it can be repositioned to make the knee joint more stable. It works well, especially for large dogs, but comes with a higher complication rate.
• Tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA), and triple tibial osteotomy (TTO). These are newer techniques but are a similar concept to the TPLO.

All of the surgical procedures are effective, however, it is important discuss the options with your veterinary surgeon and choose which will be the best for your dog. Do not be ashamed to consider the cost of the procedure, as the newer surgical techniques can be twice or thrice more expensive. Nonetheless, the need for early treatment cannot be stressed enough as this will lessen the advancement of dog arthritis.

 Treatment for Sports Dog Injuries (PDF)

A Word of Caution: Treating Dog Arthritis AND Dog Allergies Safely

When your dog has been scratching and nibbling the same area of skin for some time, he may be suffering from a skin infection or allergy. Common dog skin infections are usually caused by:

• Allergies. Some common allergens are pollen, mold, dust, and dust mites.
• Skin parasites. Fleas, ticks, gnats, chiggers, deer flies, and mites have bites that can irritate the skin.
• Fungi and bacteria. 

Treating skin problems such as parasites and infections caused by either fungi or bacteria can be simple. There are spot-ons, shampoos, soaps, powder, and ointments that can be bought over the counter, and are effective treatments. To treat dog allergies occasional or long term use of cortisone is the most common and effective way for settling down inflamed, itchy skin. This may be combined with antibiotics and insecticides. Although identifying the allergens would be a great help, the process can be difficult and frustrating. 

Cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory steroid that will have an adverse reaction with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Rimadyl and Metacam. In addition, prolonged steroid use also speeds up the process of dog arthritis.

Safe Treatment

To safely treat your dog that is suffering from both dog arthritis and skin allergies, the right thing to is to replace either NSAIDs or cortisone with another medication. I would recommend sticking with cortisone since there are many available treatments for dog arthritis (please read previous entries on the said topic) such as:

• Adequan or Cartrophen injections. These medications are known to improve joint mobility, neutralize damaging chemicals (enzymes) and stimulate cartilage cells.  They might help counteract the damage caused by the cortisone.
• Tramadol, painkillers, or analgesics.
• Fish oils with their Omega-3 are great for arthritis and skin problems.
• Anti-oxidants help protect cartilage cells against what is called oxidative stress.

If you want you could always tell your vet to forego with the cortisone treatments and look for other skin treatment alternatives such as cyclosporine or anti-histamines.

Dog owners should be aware of the medical history of their dog. This includes the medications that are being administered to your dog. In this way, you can prevent NSAIDs and cortisone being administered and search for alternate treatments that will provide your dog with the best treatment and quality of life he can get.

Treating Dog Arthritis AND Dog Allergies Safely (PDF)

Treating Dog Arthritis Naturally

There is a growing market for herbal and natural medications. Although herbal medicine has yet to gain mainstream acceptance, it does not mean that they are ineffective. 

Whilst I don’t use herbal remedies that commonly, I am very open to the option and commonly use other natural treatments such as glucosamine and chondroitin. If my clients prefer a more natural approach in the treatment of their dog’s ailments then I would suggest a combination of western and alternative approaches that I know will help improve their dog’s condition.

Dog Arthritis Treatment Using Natural Products

Using the right kind of natural medication depends on the stage of your pet’s dog arthritis.

Early Dog Arthritis. Having an early diagnosis means the disease has caused only a small amount of damage to the joints. Here, the best thing you can do is to manage your dog’s weight. Proper diet and exercise is important. Dog massage and physical therapy will help in the improvement of blood circulation around the joints and muscles. For medications, I recommend using glucosamine and chondroitin supplements.

Moderate Dog Arthritis. A shrinking in muscle mass on the arthritic leg means that your dog’s arthritis has done considerable damage to the joint cartilage. Your dog becomes reluctant to move and will show lameness after physical activity. To deal with the pain and inflammation, vitamin E and Selenium supplements can be given. I also recommend an Omega-3 supplement paired with anti-oxidant supplements such as Wobenzym. In addition, you can opt for dog acupuncture and Chinese herb tonics. Alfalfa or meadowsweet could be used.

Advanced Dog Arthritis. This is when your dog is experiencing intense pain, making him very reluctant to move. Defecating and urinating will also be difficult. Moreover, behavioral changes like social withdrawal and defensive aggression will be observed. Here, herbal medications may no longer be effective; however, you can still use them in conjunction with other treatments.

In this severe dog arthritis stage, to alleviate the pain and inflammation, pain killers such as Tramadol or Amantadine, and Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Metacam or Rimadyl should be administered. Physical therapy is needed to prevent further muscle shrinking and to promote blood circulation in the affected areas. Alongside these treatments, a strong tonic made of analgesic herbs (1/3 devils claw, 1/3 corydalis and 1/3 ginger) might help.

There are some people who claim that herbal medicine has greatly improved the life of their dog. However, as mentioned earlier herbal medicine is not an exact science. If you are considering using them for your pet’s dog arthritis, make sure that you are properly informed and consider it an adjunct to normal treatments rather than a treatment in itself. Most vets are not against natural treatments but it would be careless to place all your trust on herbal medicine.

Dog Arthritis Treatment (PDF)

Do Supplements Work Against Dog Arthritis?

Dietary supplements are commonly used to treat dog arthritis. However not all dogs respond to such treatment. In cases where the damage is too extensive to the cartilage, supplements may no longer be helpful.

Dog arthritis is surprisingly common, about one in five dogs will suffer with it. Elderly and large dogs are especially susceptible. Dog arthritis causes deterioration of the joints, which can severely impact your dog’s quality of life.

Therefore you should observe your dog’s mobility and behavior - there may be signs that your dog is suffering from dog arthritis.

Listed below are some symptoms of the disease:

• lameness
• difficulty getting up after resting
• irritability
• licking at the joints by your dog

Supplements

More pet owners and vets are first opting for dietary supplements to treat dog arthritis, since they are made from natural ingredients. This makes them less toxic to your dog’s liver. They also work in the natural restoration of damaged cartilage.

In situations where the cartilage has been significantly damaged to the point where the two bones of the joint are in contact with each other, a more aggressive treatment is needed. However, supplements can still be of some use in this chronic stage of the disease since supplements can preserve what cartilage is left.

You know that a supplement is good when it contains chondroitin and glucosamine. Dasuquin contains the said components, plus avocado and soybean unsaponifiables which helps in cartilage protection and growth.

Adequan and cartrophen are other effective supplements. They are administered by injection and cartrophen is not available in the US.

Welactin is another good example of supplements. The supplement with its omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil can greatly reduce the inflammation.

When supplement don’t work on your dog, it’s probably best to use a more aggressive approach. Non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and pain killers are medications that reduce the joint pain and swelling associated with dog arthritis.

Pet owners should realize that there is a variety of ways to treat dog arthritis. Giving supplements to their dogs can improve your dogs condition; nonetheless, people should remain open to other forms of treatment the your vet would suggest, if giving supplements is no longer sufficient.

Dog Arthritis Supplements (PDF)

6 WEEK DOG ARTHRITIS CHALLENGE

TopDog Canine Health & Rehabilitation are hosting a

6 WEEK DOG ARTHRITIS CHALLENGE

Giving hope to dog owners everywhere struggling with arthritic dogs, TopDogHealth.com is challenging your dog to improve his/her quality of life. The challenge is ready to launch on September 15th and reaches out to the first 25 dogs to sign-up and provides 6 weeks of free supplements. The participating dogs cannot have already been on supplements beforehand and must send in a video of their dog’s arthritic condition.

The supplements provided FREE of charge are none other then the excellent joint support of TopDog’s finest Glycanaid HA and Flexerna. Participants will be divided into two groups, each group using a different supplement.

Progress of each contestant is required to be recorded via video throughout the series of 6 weeks. Owners will be instructed through e-mail sequences throughout the challenge to notify them on at-home excercises and therapy they will perform while on the supplements.

Sign-Ups for The 6 Week Arthritis Challenge are on the link www.dogarthritischallenge.com, but hurry only 25 spots are available!

Contact

TopDog Health

607 East Main Street,

Meriden, CT 06451

DAC@topdoghealth.com

Ph: (888) 504 2220 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (888) 504 2220

The Safety of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Products

Glucosamine and chondroitin have been introduced to the United States reasonably recently. However they have been used to treat dog arthritis in both Europe and Australia for more than twenty years. When drugs have been in use for that length of time, their side effects are very well documented - we have been able to look at the safety of these drugs over multiple lifetimes of dogs. This is good news if you’re treating your dog’s arthritis with glucosamine and chondroitin, because the safety of these drugs are time proven and thoroughly documented.

The only side effects that have been reported are the occasional bout of diarrhea and vomiting - side effects that are common across a huge range of medications. So the incidence of side effects is very low and in most cases, the side effects reduce, or stop completely, when the dose of glucosamine is adjusted.

Also glucosamine for dogs does not have any known interactions with other prescription dog arthritis medications such as Previcox, Rimadyl or Metacam. Nor does it interact with normal over-the-counter medications such as aspirin.

Glucosamine is a naturally-occurring amino sugar compound that is produced in humans and canines and is present in high amounts in the cartilage of joints. In its twenty years of continued use, veterinarians agree that it is instrumental in repairing damaged cartilage, promoting the growth of new cartilage that cushion joints and reducing pain & inflammation.

Chondroitin, a supplement which is usually used in tandem with glucosamine, is made from cow and shark cartilage and also found in green lipped mussel. Chondroitin is used to treat dog arthritis as well as human arthritis. Chondroitin attracts fluid to cartilage which helps it remain spongy and flexible and has some effects in protecting against cartilage chewing’ enzymes.

Many dogs respond so well to a glucosamine and chondroitin regimen that vets take them off stronger dog arthritis anti-inflammatory drugs just four to six weeks after beginning glucosamine and chondroitin treatments.

A good veterinarian is constantly looking for a treatment program that provides maximum benefits with a minimum of risk to your dog’s health. When it comes to treating dog arthritis, glucosamine and chondroitin fit the bill.

Is your dog being treated with dog arthritis medications that do not include glucosamine and chondroitin? If not discuss these supplements with your veterinarian - it could make a huge impact in reducing the swelling and pain of dog arthritis.

The Safety of Glucosamine (PDF)