This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Valrico Vet Rejuvenates Pets With Unusual Treatment

Dr. Jim Antunano of Animal Medical Center uses regenerative cell therapy to treat ailing pets.

Using stem cells to rejuvenate human tissue still may be on the horizon, but for dogs, the technology is already a reality.

Dr. Jim Antunano works at Valrico's , 1102 E. Bloomingdale Ave., where he applies the treatments to bay area canines. The new technology is gaining credibility and popularity.

"Usually this is for animals whose mobility has become limited because problems with their joints," Antunano said. "I have dogs that come in and can barely walk and in about 30 days they start to show improvement. The treatment lasts a long time too. I've had dogs that five years later that still come in bouncing when they couldn't get out of the car before."

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The credibility factor is something that Antunano believes has led to an increase in treatments. The procedure is not commonplace for veterinarians because not just anyone can administer the treatments. A certification process and educational training are necessary before a vet can add this to his or her repertoire.

"Veterinarians have to go through a process in order to be able to do this," Antunano said. "There is an accreditation exam that I had to take, but even then I was a non-believer. I thought I'd try it and see what happened. If it worked I knew I could put it out there, and if it didn't I simply wasted some time. I'm still doing it, so that tells you what happened."

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The process uses adult stem cells extracted from the animal's own thorax or chest area with a syringe. The cells are sent to a lab in California called Vet-Stem overnight where they are treated in a sterile room and concentrated before being placed into fresh syringes. They are then sent back to Antunano overnight and injected into the pet's ailing joints.

"It takes one treatment and that's it," Antunano said. "This technology has been around for about eight years, and I have seen it do some very positive things. A lot of people come from as far as St. Petersburg to get the treatment when they hear about it because it makes such a big difference from the shape the dog is in when they come in to just a few months later."

While results have been incredible, the price is something that may scare people away. At a cost of $2,500 for the treatment, the price doesn't fit into a lot of people's budgets in the current economy. Despite that, Antunano feels that in the long term it is cheaper and more effective than the use of painkillers and other medications.

"Cost is an issue, but it beats a total hip replacement," Antunano said. "People wonder whether or not it will work and I tell them to look at what they are spending on medicine for the dog and getting the pain simply alleviated, but it will not fix the dog. Most often there is anti-inflammatory drugs and a painkiller, and the cost of that adds up to a couple thousand per year, so in the end it's almost the same price except the dog is actually cured from this."

The Animal Medical Center can be reached at 813-654-6222. Visit amdcvet.com for more info.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?