What is Vet-Stem Regenerative Medicine?

VetStem stem cell therapy is used primarily in dogs with advanced arthritis, most commonly in the hip and knee joints. The technology just recently became available for dogs in January of 2008 but has been used as a therapy for horses since 2002.  Dr. Tom Day is one of only approximately 200 veterinarians in the country certified to use this technology.

How does Vet-Stem Regenerative Medicine Work?

Vet-Stem stem cells are derived from fat cells! Here at LVSES the fat is collected from behind the shoulder blade in dogs during a minor surgical procedure. The fat is then sent to VetStem and stem cells that will produce and regenerate joint cartilage are extracted from the fat. Two days later the harvested stem cells are shipped to LVSES where they are injected in the affected joints under mild sedation.

Summary:

Day One:
The veterinarian collects a small fat sample (about two tablespoons) from the patient. The sample is shipped priority overnight to the Vet-Stem laboratory in San Diego, California.

Day Two:
Vet-Stem processes the fat sample, concentrates the VSRCs. The cells are shipped priority overnight in ready-to-inject syringes.

Day Three:
The veterinarian injects the VSRCs directly into the injured site.

Banking

Vet-Stem Bank™ is a service that provides storage of VSRCs for future use. After the collection and processing described in the process above, part or all of the cells may be banked if cell yield allows. This service is a specially designed tissue preservation process that prepares your animal's stem cells for long-term storage in liquid nitrogen. These cells may be used for additional treatments of an existing injury, or they may be stored as "insurance" for a possible need in the future. Cryogenically frozen stem cells have been shown viable after 20 years of storage.

All cells may only be used for the donor animal and are not differentiated or engineered in any way.

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