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Immunotherapy is a new ground-breaking treatment option for dogs with cancer. Cancer cells normally grow and spread because the immune system fails to recognize them as abnormal, allowing them to continue to metastasize. Ardent Animal Health Analogous Cancer Product is an experimental immunotherapy vaccine used to help the dog’s immune system recognize the cancer cells as detrimental and attack them.

What is K9-ACV?

K9-ACV stands for Canine Autologous Cancer Vaccine. Cancer cells can be recognized as foreign by the immune system if those cancer cells are presented to the immune system in a manner that “breaks immune tolerance.” Decades of research in mouse and human models have shown that tumor cells are very much like normal cells in that they express self-antigens that the body is taught to ignore early in development and throughout life. An immunosuppressive environment produced by growing tumors promotes an immune response toward the tumor that is ineffective, allowing the tumor to grow unchecked.

An appropriately designed vaccine, like K9-ACV, can break this cycle of tumor immunosuppression, generating tumor-specific immune cells that have effective anti-tumor reactivity, improving survival and quality of life in veterinary patients. K9-ACV is specifically designed to make the patient’s tumor or disease appear foreign, thus inducing an effective anti-tumor immune response, like an immune response against viral or bacterial infections. This is the basic theory behind immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer.

Using the therapeutic approach of immunotherapy, the scientists at Ardent Animal Health have developed a cancer vaccine, created personally for your pet that can be incorporated in your pet’s cancer treatment plan. K9-ACV can be used to treat your pet’s cancer independently or in combination with other traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy or radiation. We hope that K9-ACV will improve and extend the quality of life for your dog. K9-ACV is designed for all operable canine tumors.

How does Immunotherapy fight canine cancer?

If the dog has a tumor that can be removed, a vaccine can be created for that patient. First, the tumor is removed and shipped to Ardent Labs where the tumor and the cancerous cells are used to create a vaccine that alerts the body that those specific cancer cells that are harmful. The personalized cancer vaccine is administered to your dog, by your veterinarian, which “wakes-up” the immune system and helps it to recognize the dangerous cancer cells within the dog’s body. The immune system then naturally starts killing the cancer cells and potentially helps prevent them from spreading further.

The immunotherapy vaccine is created in the Ardent laboratories using your dog’s own specific cancer cells. The team at Cashmere Veterinary Clinic will then be able to administer the vaccine.

Who are the ideal candidates for K9-ACV?

• Dogs of any weight or breed, greater than 1 year of age
• Dogs with a solid cancerous tumor that is accessible for surgical removal.
• Dogs with a predicted survival greater than one month without therapy.

K9-ACV May Not Benefit All Dogs With Cancer

The following list describes patients that are not suitable for K9-ACV canine cancer treatment.

• Leukemia or a cancerous tumor that cannot be removed
• Any previous forms of immunotherapy
• Pregnant dogs
• Histologic diagnosis of benign tumor in the resected tumor or low-grade malignancy

What is the treatment protocol?

The first step in treatment is a surgical procedure, performed by your veterinarian, to remove your pet’s tumor. This procedure is followed by three visits to your veterinarian. At each of these visits, your pet will receive an injection of the vaccine just under the skin. These visits are quick, easy, and your pet goes home with you.

How successful will the vaccine be on cancer in my pet?

The goal of immunotherapy is to put cancer in a state of equilibrium for a period of time. Tumor regression and elimination are a possibility of immunotherapy but the more likely scenario is an increase in survival beyond palliative care. The vaccine was designed from the success of treating human cancer patients with similar immunotherapy approaches. In a recent publication, 85% of patients displayed an increased response against their cancer post-vaccination. Clinical success has been marked across many different cancer types. K9-ACV is designed as an affordable and simple treatment protocol when owners are looking to move beyond the standard of care.

What side effects could occur?

K9-ACV offers an alternative treatment option for dogs with cancer that has little to no side effects. The treatment was tested in a recent trial and proved to be safe and effective at promoting an increased response for a variety of cancer types.

What is my responsibility as a pet owner?

K9-ACV is made from the patient’s tumor cells. It is important to discuss K9-ACV with your veterinarian before your pet’s surgery to remove the tumor. Once created, finishing out the vaccination schedule is crucial to increasing the odds of response for your pet.

Contact Cashmere Veterinary Clinic at (509) 782-3572 for more information on how the K9-ACV can help your pet.

Click Here To Read More About K9-ACV

Cashmere Veterinary Clinic offers Laser therapy. The use of therapeutic laser helps to treat pain, clear inflammation (acute and chronic), and accelerate wound healing.

Laser therapy uses high-intensity light accelerates the body’s natural healing processes. The laser beam is moved over the skin so that the light energy penetrates the tissue where it interacts with various molecules that cause different effects within the body. It produces photochemical, photothermal, and photomechanical effects.

Cashmere Veterinary Clinic uses an EVO MLS Class IV COLD therapy laser from Cutting Edge. This type of laser has greater penetration depth into tissues vs other therapy lasers. This is beneficial in treating large and dark-haired/skinned animals. Because the wavelengths go lower than other lasers, we can also treat exotic animals and birds. This type of laser is the only laser with synchronized wavelengths proving a faster and more long-lasting treatment. Cutting Edge Therapy lasers are FDA approved.

How can it help your small animal?

• Tendon/ligament sprains/strains (tendonitis)
• Muscle sprain/strains
• Lameness
• Arthritis
• Hip dysplasia
• Post-surgical swelling
• Infected wounds (ear infections)
• Non-healing or slow-healing wounds (lick granulomas)
• Lacerations to accelerate wound healing
• Sinusitis

Visit www.celasers.com to view scientific studies. Laser therapy is covered by Trupanion Pet Insurance.

Click Here To Read More About Laser Therapy

Platelet-Rich Plasma, or PRP, is blood plasma that contains concentrated amounts of platelets and growth factors. PRP is a non-surgical and advanced means of providing high doses of the body’s own healing factors directly to the area where they are needed.

How does it work?

Platelet Rich Plasma is a trending topic in human sports orthopedic medicine. Used for sports injuries as many wear and tear issues. Ardent’s Platelet Rich Plasma Kit, or PRP, is a breakthrough product for pets utilizing blood plasma with concentrated platelets that once activated accelerate the healing properties of the isolated growth factors at a fraction of the cost of traditional human treatments.

Platelets that are found in whole blood contain many healing growth factors and bioactive proteins. These bioactive proteins can initiate tissue healing, and assist with inflammation. The treatment offers an affordable all-natural alternative to drugs and steroids.

How does it benefit your pet?

Ardent’s PRP Kit can be introduced topically in or around an injured joint, tendon, or used in its gel form to treat large burns or wounds. Ardent’s PRP is not limited to acute injuries, it can also be used for chronic conditions.

• Complimentary to your Pet’s next surgery
• Osteoarthritis
• Tenosynovitis
• Wound Care
• General Inflammation
• Post Surgical Healing

Cashmere Veterinary Clinic uses shockwave therapy to treat chronic pain of the musculoskeletal system since it is one of the most common debilitating conditions. The majority of these painful conditions are the result of enthesopathies (disorder involving the attachment of a tendon or ligament to a bone) such as tennis elbow, calcaneal heel spurs, or calcifications of the shoulder joint. Myofascial trigger points have also increasingly been diagnosed as major causes of chronic pain. Focused ESWT has now become established as a useful method for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic lesions in the soft tissue areas near bones of the posture and locomotor system (musculoskeletal system):

• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Insertion desmopathy
• Delayed Fracture Healing
• Tendinopathy
• Sesamoidosis
• Calcification
• Hip Dysplasia
• Osteo Arthritis

Efficacy of Focused ESWT

Extracorporeal shockwaves are mechanical stressors capable of inducing biochemical changes in living tissue; at a molecular level these changes can influence gene expression in cells and, if used selectively, can produce specific reactions in tissue. This process is referred to as mechanotransduction.
Mechanical stimuli can affect almost all cellular functions in living tissue, including growth, cell differentiation, cell migration, protein synthesis, physiological apoptosis and tissue necrosis. New studies have shown that ESWT is able to stimulate the endogenous production of lubricin in tendons and septa.
Scientific studies and publications, using the highly accurate piezo-shockwave technology, have confirmed the effectiveness of focused shockwaves for various common musculoskeletal conditions as well as trigger point diagnosis and treatment. ESWT is one of the few medical technologies which can treat chronic pain syndromes of the musculoskeletal system effectively by jump-starting self-healing processes.

Penetration Depth up to 60mm

The piezo shockwave technology uses interchangeable gel pads which contact the patient to ensure that the shockwave penetrates precisely to the desired depth with as little scattering as possible. These gel pads are used as spacers and change the penetration depth in increments of 5 mm. They accomplish this by drawing the therapy source’s static focal area incrementally superficial or deep respectively. Maximum penetration depths of between 20mm and 60mm are possible, depending on the therapy source.

The piezo-electric principle / focused

Piezo-ceramic elements are geometrically arranged on a concave surface so that when they are excited simultaneously by a brief, high-voltage pulse, they expand by a few micrometers to generate a pressure pulse.

The piezo elements are precisely aligned so that each pressure pulse generated focuses in a specific area. This precise focusing of the pulse creates a shockwave at the point of focus. The piezo shockwave’s direct focusing” technology eliminates the need for additional reflectors resulting in a compact therapy source design and a precise and well defined focal zone. The virtually painless therapy is applied quietly and energy levels can be freely adjusted with almost no adverse effect on the size of the focal zone. The piezo shockwave technology is extremely durable.

Piezo shockwave therapy sources are available with single-layer or double-layer technology, depending on the required energy levels, with peak pressures of up to 82 MPa

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Ardent’s Veterinary Stem Cell Therapy…Q&A for Pet Owners

What is Stem Cell Therapy?

Stem cells are powerful healing cells in your body that can become other types of cells. There are many adult stem cells in fat tissue however, they are asleep. Ardent’s stem cell therapy allows your vet to isolate stem cells from an animal’s own fat tissue, wake them up, and reinject them directly into damaged areas. For example, in the case of arthritis, stem cells become new cartilage cells, thus reducing pain and increasing mobility.

What is so great about Stem Cell Therapy?

Stem cells treat the source of the problem by becoming new tissue to replace damaged tissue. Other treatments, such as NSAIDs, merely attempt to reduce symptoms. The treatment is very low risk because it uses the animal’s own stem cells. With Ardent’s technology, over 95% of animals treated show improvement.

How long has this been available?

Stem cell therapy for animals has been commercially available since 2004. Ardent started selling their kits in the US in 2010, to clinics on the mainland, and thousands of animals have been treated around the world. An Ardent representative now lives in Hawaii and began introducing it to clinics here in 2012.

I’ve heard about other stem cell companies. Which one is best?

For pet owners, there are two main advantages to Ardent Actistem. First, the processing is all done in your vet’s office, so you don’t need to worry about losing your sample during shipping, or the sample heating up and getting damaged. Also, Ardent allows your vet to do the entire procedure in one day, making it very convenient for you and your pet. While all companies are equally safe, Ardent has the highest reported success rate of greater than 95%. When comparing side by side, vets chose Ardent because of the superior results.

Is it safe?

Yes, this procedure is very safe. The biggest risk is using an anesthetic, to remove the fat tissue. On a typical dog, this is easier than a spay, and the fat is collected in about 15 minutes by your vet. Processing the sample is done carefully by a highly trained Ardent representative (or by a lab tech carefully trained by that representative). In the thousands of animals treated, we have not observed any negative side-effects from Ardent’s stem cell therapy.

What happens to my pet when they come in for stem cell therapy?

First, your vet will put your pet under general anesthetic. Then, he/she will make a small incision and collect 2-4 tablespoons of fat (either in the belly or behind the shoulder blades). Since your pet is under anesthetic, this is a great opportunity to do anything else needed – spay/neuter, or dental for example. Your local, highly trained Ardent representative will then process the sample, right in the clinic, using Ardent equipment. After about 3 hours, the cells are ready for injection into areas of damage. In addition, some cells are administered by IV. For the administration step, your pet will either not sedated at all, locally anesthetized with ethyl chloride spray, or lightly sedated, depending on what’s best for your pet. You can pick up your pet later that same day.

What is the recovery period, and how long does it take to see results?

We recommend that the patient be kept quiet for the first 10 days. Then, while they may feel a lot better, you will need to be careful so your pet doesn’t injure themselves until they build up some of their muscles. Swimming and walking in water is great therapy. We typically see improvement starting after 3 weeks, and then continuing up to around 2 months.

What conditions do you treat?

Our typical patient has osteoarthritis (hip dysplasia, degenerative joint disease, calcifications, common degeneration, and inflammation), soft tissue injuries (cruciate injuries, tears, ruptures, inflammation), or needs accelerated healing of fractures. We know a lot about these conditions, and over 95% of these patients get better, with Ardent’s Stem Cell Therapy.

We also treat other cases under “compassionate use”. We know less about these conditions, but are seeing some exciting results. Some of those conditions are degenerative myelopathy, feline gingivitis, end-stage renal disease, liver and kidney failure, allergy, auto-immune, inflammatory bowel disease, pulmonary fibrosis, IMHA, atopy, and spine trauma. Please talk to your vet if you have questions about any of these conditions.

How long does a treatment last? What happens if my pet starts having trouble again?
We typically see about 1-3 years of relief after the initial treatment. Most pet owners chose to bank cells, so retreatment is easy. Ardent has a banking facility in Kentucky. If symptoms return, your vet merely requests a dose of cells from the bank and injects them. No surgery is necessary.

Are there any animals that you don’t treat?

Yes. Because we don’t know exactly what happens when cancer patients are treated with stem cells based on human studies, we do not treat those patients.