Cutting edge therapy for Fido now available

By Monica GlebermanNovember 17, 2010 | 09:15 AM

Dr. John Lu of Setauket Animal Hospital is one of the first veterinarians to use in-house stem cell therapy for his four-legged patients. Setauket's motto, "Caring is the key to your pet's well-being," is the attitude that led Lu to begin using in-house stem cell therapy as an additional treatment.

"There is a direction of a new invention, an improvement in therapy," Lu said. "I understand that the stem cell research right now is not perfect. It's not a miracle, but it offers hope to produce something that could be a miracle."

Adam and Clair Davi from Holbrook recently brought their 14-year-old shepherd mix, Sesame Seed, to see Lu about stem cell therapy. Sesame Seed has severe arthritis and the hope was to use stem cells to help alleviate both the arthritis and the pain Sesame Seed was experiencing. A stem cell procedure can cost around $2,000.

However, Lu knows how important this procedure is for the pets and their owners. "People treat animals like they take care of their kids," he said. About 10 days ago, Sesame Seed came into the hospital to receive the new therapy.

The in-house procedure is relatively quick, about four to six hours versus the traditional procedure which could take over 70 hours. During the in-house treatment the animal is anesthetized. The hospital's trained staff then takes fat cells from another part of the dog's body. Once they are isolated, a small amount is injected into the damaged area. The remaining cells are then given to the dog intravenously for about 20 minutes. This helps the stem cells to go through the dog's entire system, attaching themselves to any other damaged areas, according to Lu. Once that is completed, the dog may go home the same day.

Since the procedure, the Davi family has contacted the animal hospital to say they have seen improvement in their dog's daily life. According to Lu there are no negative side effects that he is aware of from the cutting-edge procedure.

However, Lu stresses this is not a cure. "Stem cell is a choice of treatment. It can be developed further. I want to make sure we talk about this on the science side, and not just say stem cells can do everything for anything," said Lu. "It may in the future, but for right now we are using it to something that they know it will work, which is arthritis."

Dr. Lu received his veterinary medical degree in Beijing, China. At Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in Indiana Lu completed his clinical training. During this time, almost 20 years ago, he strived to develop safe, effective therapies beyond what the textbooks taught him, he said.

Lu acknowledges stem cell research is in its beginning stages. Right now this therapy is only for dogs and horses.

"This may be a tomorrow approach, but if we don't do it today we don't have tomorrow," he said. The animal hospital has completed just two in-house procedures as of two weeks ago.