Dog & Cat Success Stories

Always a friendly and social cat, my thirteen-year-old tortoise shell “Zo” was now spending her days lying on my bed. Isolated, she rarely left the room even for meals. A trip to our vet revealed severe arthritis in both elbows of her front limbs. Her pain level must have been quite severe since it was on both sides and she could not favor one side or the other when moving. It was, as my vet described it, like having “a nail in both shoes.” Cats are quite stoic, but apparently she had been suffering for some time. I couldn’t bear the thought of her spending every day in pain, and I feared the other problems that her now-limited mobility would create: loss of confidence, weight gain, muscle atrophy, and depression. Aside from the arthritis, she was a trim, healthy cat and I wanted to keep her that way. I also knew that she would never tolerate bimonthly vet visits, injections, or other treatments. Zo has never done well with going to the vet’s and the emotional stress the visits bring on would eventually further degrade her physical condition. When my vet told me about the Vet-Stem treatment option, I made an immediate decision to try it. While the initial cost was sobering, ultimately the treatment would be cheaper than a year or two of injections and/or laser sessions, her only other treatment options. She would be spared the trauma of repeated vet visits and I wouldn’t have to worry about her pain level increasing as each injection began wearing off. She would be able to live pain-free, active, and happy, helping her to maintain her overall good health and quality of life for the next few years. It has now been five weeks since her surgery, and the results are quite dramatic—better than I could have ever hoped for. She is her old self again: bossy, outgoing, and engaged in family life. The other day I found her sitting on top of a mattress leaning against a wall (we have just moved). This was a height of about five and a half feet. I’m not sure how she got up there, as she may have jumped up on some other boxes to get there, but any of these acts would have been absolutely impossible for her a month ago. To slow down further deterioration of her elbow joints, I did get some pet steps for her and am trying to convince her to use them, but she is obviously able to get around fine without them. So many times with a pet’s illness, there are simply no good treatment options. This time there was one—the Vet-Stem treatment. I am so grateful for being spared from making, God forbid, the wrenching decision of either putting her to sleep or watching her suffer every day for the rest of her life. I am extraordinarily pleased with the results of this treatment. For us, it was definitely the best option to keep her healthy, happy, and in our lives for a little while longer.