Limey Jones was Pom’s predecessor. By the time Limey reached ten years old, he really slowed down. Ordinary tasks seemed painful. As much as he loved hanging on the bed, he avoided the second-floor stairs. Poor Lime, when he did work his way upstairs, we had to lift him onto the bed. He had lost the ability to jump that high.

One day I noticed a change in the dog. He was scampering up the stairs and jumping on the bed. I mentioned this to Cher and she he was taking joint medicine. It apparently worked like a charm.

According to our vet, joint medication works about half the time. Some dogs take to it while others do not. Fortunately, Limey took to it. For the not-so-lucky arthritic dog there’s an alternative treatment: stem cell therapy. That’s right, the same stuff that gets humans bickering helps older dogs gain a new lease on life.

The procedure was developed by MediVet, an Australian company and offered in the States through MediVet America. A veterinarian takes about 30 grams of fat tissue from the dog’s shoulder. Then MediVet separates and activates the stem cells in the tissue. When the process is complete, some of the stem cells are directly injected back into the infected areas. The remaining stem cells are injected intravenously to allow them to go where they need to go.

When the process was first available, its initial costs totaled over $11,000.00. The procedure is now about $2700.00. Is it worth it? Limey was lucky. He was able to get these types of benefits with joint medication. He lived another 2-1/2 years relatively pain free. Over the course of that time, we spent well over a thousand dollars on medication. If he didn’t take to it, we would have spent the extra money to grant him a second puppyhood.