Even though we are based in a 400 year old barn at Oak Barn Vets we are very keen to offer the most upto date treatments to keep all our pets happy and healthy!
We love our keyhole surgery - with laparascopic spays back to bouncy within 48 hours and no dreaded cone of shame they have revolutionised the old Bitch Spay that we all dreaded!
Over the next couple of blogs we will introduce you to a couple of new treatments that we will be able to offer over the summer that will really help our osteoarthritic pets with joint disease as well as monitoring our anaesthetics with some amazing new bits of kit.
The first of these is Platelet Therapy. This is a treatment that has been used in racehorses for some years now and utilises the growth factors that are contained within our platelets in our blood stream. Effectively it is a cheaper and easier form of stem cell therapy, which uses similar principles but requires stem cell harvesting under general anaesthesia.
V-Pet therapy can be used in cats and dogs. Under sedation a blood sample is taken and then run through a complicated series of filters to harvest the platelets natural anti-inflamatories, growth factors and stem cell attractants. This platelet concentrate is then injected back into osteoarthritic joints or tendons much as we would have used a steriod injection before. The biggest advantage is that this treatment utilises the body's own regeneration processes and promotes pain relief and an increase in mobility by releasing these factors into the surrounding tissues. Best of all once harvested this platelet filtrate is harvested it is freezable for two years and can supply upto seven joint treatments. Typically one joint treatment lasts for 12 months and is perfect to be used in conjunction with our new Laser treatment (more of that in our next blog!)
Advantages of V-PET
- New cutting edge science
- Affordable for non-insured clients
- Proven scientifically to have significant effect on OA and rehabilitation (JAVMA Nov. 2013)
- Able to manage osteoarthritic lameness for at least one year from single injection into joint
- Can be used as part of rehabilitation package post fracture-joint surgery
- 30 minutes for whole procedure
- Easy to perform in the operating theatre
For more information have a look at the leaflet below (in the download section underneath the social sharing area) or