From the Toronto StarStem cells therapy has Lexi wagging again
BY VALERIE HAUCH
Lexi’s feeling sexy again.
That’s not to say that the middle-aged Newfoundland dog, who had an injection of stem cells in October, has any sort of amorous intentions.
Lexi is spayed, after all. And stem cells, while sometimes found to have mysterious, unplanned benefits, do not restore procreative proclivities.
Rather, it’s obvious that the 7-year-old dog with the glossy ebony fur is feeling good as her big, black nose snuffles energetically in bushes and she gambols on the green in a park near the Mississauga veterinary clinic where her owner works.
In October, Lexi became the first dog to undergo a stem-cell injection done totally in Canada. Fat cells were removed from Lexi’s shoulder under general anesthesia, and the stem cells isolated and activated in an on-site MediVet lab that uses patented technology. The stem cells were then injected into Lexi’s back right leg, where pain from bilateral hip dysplasia and degenerative joint disease had taken a toll.
The procedure was performed in mid-October at Malton Veterinary Services on Derry Rd. E., where Lexi’s owner, Nicole Pike, works as a receptionist. The normal $1,800 fee was waived.
A few short months later, there’s no sign of a limp and no obvious hesitation in Lexi’s back right leg. Before the operation, the 115-pound dog had also shown lesser symptoms of the same degenerative joint disease in her back left leg, and those have totally disappeared, Pike says.
She’s delighted with the change in Lexi. “It’s like she’s drunk from the fountain of youth. Before (the procedure) she didn’t run very frequently. I used to walk her the same distance as now and by the end of the walk, she was incapable or unwilling, because of the discomfort, to keep up with me.
“Now she is forging ahead of me, as opposed to lagging behind,’’ says Pike. “She’s not showing symptoms of fatigue and she’s not showing symptoms of pain during those walks. It’s fantastic.
“She’s back to playing with her ball and blanket — she grabs her blanket and tears around the house, which is good to see. She’s got a real zest for life.”
Pike still notices some symptoms in Lexi’s leg, but overall, the dog has vastly improved and is likely to get better still. “Sixty to 90 days is when Dr. (Erik) Sjonnesen says you see optimal results (from stem cell injections),” Pike says.
The procedure has also brought unexpected benefits. The inflammatory bowel disease Lexi suffered from seems to have disappeared. She had been on medication for the condition, which is marked by episodes of diarrhea and vomiting, but doing the procedure safely meant having to stop the meds for a while before and after the operation.
“Since the procedure she hasn’t been on any medication and there haven’t been any flare-ups,” says Pike, who believes the stem cells have “had something to do with changing something in her stomach that leads to this.”
There’s no way to prove a connection, says Sjonnesen, but “it certainly got my attention. I have heard of things like that happening.”
In another case at his clinic, a dog who got stem cell therapy for his knee had an auto-immune problem in his eye clear up after it was done, with no other treatment. “That’s another exciting little tidbit,” says Sjonnesen. That dog is also recovering well but hasn’t passed the 30-day mark for a full review.
To date, Sjonnesen has given in-clinic stem cell therapy to eight dogs, all of them still too recently for a full assessment.
But the veterinarian is very pleased with the progress of Lexi, whose breed’s life expectancy averages between 10 and 12 years.
“She has a good range of motion now. . . she used to have some pain when you extended her right hip — she resented it, she’d cry out,” says Sjonnesen. “But now, she is perfectly calm when I do that; there’s no reaction.”
It’s not known for certain how long the benefits of the therapy will last. But Pike said she’d be willing to have the treatment done again if Lexi needed it because the results have been so positive.
Sjonnesen said the therapy could also be good for horses with osteoarthritis, as well as cats, but hasn’t had any requests yet.
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