Sammy came with bad hips. Of course this may not ever amount to anything because some dogs x-ray terribly and function perfectly, but the fact remains that his hips are a bit out of whack. This could, of course lead to hip displasia, surgery and intensive rehab.
The orthopedist does not even want to see us unless Sammy becomes incapacitated. And trust me, he is far from that. Nonetheless, the thought of surgery and REHAB boggles my mind because Sammy is HUGE. I cannot hold him, let alone hold him up with a sling. The logistics of letting him in and out would be incredibly complicated, not to mention the issue of his enormous ENERGY. Truthfully, can you imagine rehabbing a one year old golden retriever?
So I am holding out great hope for this stem cell treatment should we ever need to go down that path. In today's Inquirer, there is a piece about Zoey, a dog with bad hips, who has been helped remarkably by injecting stem cells, extracted from his fat, back into the animal. The stem cells stimulate repairs.
The treatment is in its early stages and is being marketed by Vet-Stem out of California. It does not come cheap (I am sure they are not covered by insurance)--between $2500 and $3000--which is more than surgery but probably about what it would cost to do surgery and rehab.
And there are questions, of course, about how long the treatment lasts and how many injections are needed, but Zoey is responding amazingly well.
The first injection "did wonders" reports his owner and he will soon get a second one in both hind legs to help him climb the stairs. Zoey, by the way, is a 14 year old American Eskimo dog.
As I said, I'm holding out hope, not only for Sammy but also for me!!
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