Archive for the Patient News Category

They’ve arrived! Dr. Bek’s Neapolitan Mastiff, Dee Dee, has given birth to thirteen (yep, thirteen!) beautiful puppies. Dee Dee’s new family includes three girls and ten boys. All of the new arrivals are healthy and doing well and run the gamut of the typical colours of the breed. The birth was a marathon effort for Dee Dee, who managed to produce seven puppies naturally. The other six were delivered by c-section.

Meet Turner, Dr Bek’s much loved 12-year old West Highland Terrier. Like most of her breed she’s hyperactive and spends her days playing with the Neapolitan Mastiffs who also call the hospital home. Playing outside she can get get very dirty, and needs regular bathing and grooming to avoid her disappearing under a cocoon of mud and dirt.

We continue to be amazed at the results we are seeing from our Stem Cell Transplants. One of our more recent recipients of Adipose Stem Cells was Freyja, who suffered very severe arthritis. Prior to her treatment her condition was such that she found exercise or movement of any kind difficult, if not impossible. Her pain and lack of mobility was severe enough that she had to be lifted onto her bed. Freyja received her Stem Cell treatment on 29 December 2011. Within a week of the procedure she was showing clear signs of improved comfort levels and increased mobility. By the time of her first ‘official’ follow-up check — two weeks after her treatment — she was running, jumping and happily playing with her kennel mates, with no signs of pain.

Last week, George, a Cornish Rex cat, became the first feline in Australia to receive stem cells to halt chronic renal failure.
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.

Christmas has come early for Abbey, the 11-year-old Border Collie who received the Alpine region’s first ever stem cell transplant just four weeks ago, and is now happily re-discovering what it’s like to be a puppy again. Abbey has made astounding progress toward permanently beating the severe arthritis that saw her crippled with chronic pain. Abbey’s mum says that her much loved dog is running, jumping and chasing sticks and balls, with no sign of lameness or discomfort despite having had no pain medication since her stem cell transplant.

Little more than a week after her treatment, Abby, our first Stem Cell Therapy patient, is already showing positive signs of improvement. She is moving much more freely, can get up and down very easily and appears to be in no pain, despite not having had pain medication since recovering from her stem cell transplant.
We’re very excited about the promise stem cell transplants holds for many of our older patients suffering chronic arthritic conditions and Abby’s rapid improvement only makes us more keen to help more pets suffering from this debilitating condition.

This little Joey was a recent visitor to the hospital, after his Mum was found dead in the paddock and a concerned resident brought the distressed youngster to the hospital. Dr. Bek gave him a good feed, a thorough vet check and shipped him off to a wildlife carer.