Thor, an athletic 7-year-old Catahoula leopard hound, lay on a table at the Animal Clinic of Billings, panting lightly while staffers put small bags over his feet and temperature-controlled packs on his chest before the anesthesia kicked in.
Not long after he went under, those same staff members carried Thor to an operating table where his owner, Dr. Bobbi Jo Massic, who is also a veterinarian at the clinic, made a small incision in his abdomen, the first step in a cutting-edge process designed to help the alleviate the dogs hip dysplasia and arthritis.
By the end of Tuesday, Thor became the very first patient in the clinics brand new animal stem cell therapy program.
This is a very exciting day, said Dr. Bryna Felchle, another vet at the clinic who will help spearhead the program. Were launching our very first stem cell therapy right here.
The process is widespread across the United States, but Felchle is just the second vet in Montana certified to perform the procedure and the only one in the eastern half of the state.
Generally, it involves removing fatty tissue from an animal, separating the stem cells from that tissue, activating the cells and then injecting or applying them back into the animal to promote healing or tissue growth.
The stem cells which differentiate and adapt into needed cells and tissues help to treat arthritis, hip dysplasia, ligament and cartilage injuries and other degenerative diseases.
Massic said Thor is a very active dog. Several years ago, he tore an anterior cruciate ligament, for which he underwent three surgeries and has a metal plate and three screws in one of his legs, along with the arthritis and dysplasia.
He has a lot of his active life ahead of him, she said. Were hoping that we can get him back to that mobility he had before.
She also said it could cut down on healing time, since the surgery requires fairly small incisions and a simple injection of the cells later.
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Billings veterinary clinic conducts city's first dog stem cell therapy treatment