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Stem Cells mean new hope for George
Last week, George, a much loved Cornish Rex cat, became the first feline in Australia to receive stem cells to halt chronic renal failure.
While it is true that in almost 100% of cases our patients benefited from swift and substantial reductions of their arthritic pain our follow-up studies have shown that, in most cases, ASCT does not provide a permanent reduction or elimination of arthritic pain. In some cases relief can last a long time but in many cases the benefits are lost within a year or so. We do not consider that to be a sufficiently positive outcome to continue to offer the treatment. Consequently, we have not offered ASCT since the completion of our follow-up studies in 2014.
Of course, with such a new treatment we were never able to offer any guarantees and all of our clients who requested the treatment for their pets were advised that we were unable to predict the long term results. However, the initial results for most patients were so positive that we really hoped they indicated a genuine long term solution.
Unfortunately that is not the case and we can no longer suggest ASCT as a preferred treatment. There are other effective treatments for arthritis that are considerably cheaper than ASCT.
We remain optimistic that stem cells, whether produced from embryonic cells or from the patient’s own cells, will eventually lead to a better and more permanent cure but, currently, such treatments are not only vastly more complex but are so expensive as to be out of the reach of the average pet owner.
Rather than delete our original news stories on our ASCT trials we will leave them available for pet owners to read and form their own judgements.
Last week, George, a Cornish Rex cat, became the first feline in Australia to receive stem cells to halt chronic renal failure.
Original story…
The velvet-furred six-year-old cat was given just three months to live after being diagnosed with 75 per cent renal failure. George’s owner, Veronika Morrison, refused to give up and, after research on the web, discovered Stem Cell Therapy had been successfully used in trials in the USA to treat similar conditions. Mrs Morrison is hopeful that the treatment will create new kidney cells and give her precious pet further time.
George’s treatment was reported in the Herald Sun. You can read about it here. (This page will open in a new window).
It is still relatively early days for this particular use of the Adipose Stem Cell Therapy but trials in in the US have reported a 90 per cent success rate. We have been following the developments with great interest and Dr. Bek has been trained in using SCT for renal and liver conditions. As yet we have not had a suitable candidate for this form of stem cell treatment but are currently discussing options with a number of clients. If you have a pet — dog or cat — with kidney or liver problems please contact us at the hospital. A Stem Cell transplant may be able to help.