Regenerative medicine therapies for musculoskeletal and neurological diseases, including the application of mesenchymal stem cells, have the potential to improve function and comfort in patients by altering the target environment through cell signaling and other immunomodulatory effects.  Such therapies are promising for these patients, particularly those not amenable to traditional medications or require more control of their disease.

Castration of male dogs is one of the most common surgically performed procedures in the United States. While traditional castration can be performed by many techniques, all include removal of the testicles through an incision. Depending on the age and size of the dog, further invasive surgery is performed to remove the scrotal sac (scrotal ablation) to decrease the possibility of postoperative complications.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common oral malignant tumor in dogs. They are locally invasive and often recurrent. They invade the bone rapidly and sometimes cannot be removed by surgery.

The sinus node is the major pacemaker of the heart. In dogs, disease of the sinus node can result in slow heart rates that requires pacemaker implantation. The goal of this study is to characterize the electrical properties of the sinus node in dogs with slow heart rates that require pacemakers.

Eligibility: Any dog seen at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals with a diagnosis of a slow heart rate that requires pacemaker implantation.

IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) is a common primary gastrointestinal (GI) disease causing undesired symptoms such as poor appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea in dogs.  Dogs that do not respond to diet and antibiotic therapies are treated with corticosteroid medications that can have side effects that can make quality of life worse in some cases. Therefore, more targeted immunotherapies are needed to inhibit the inflammation seen with this disease.

Dietary management of cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be very complicated due to the need to balance many changed dietary needs to keep the CKD from worsening, such as keeping protein relatively low while also maintaining optimal potassium and phosphorous levels. We are examining whether feeding a hydrolyzed protein diet will provide more amino acids while also keeping protein levels low enough to help prevent muscle wasting while still optimizing the other needs.

Gallbladder disease is common in cats and dogs and can lead to significant illness and even death. The routine surgical approach to remove the gallbladder usually requires surgeons to open the intestine (duodenotomy) to ensure the common bile duct draining the liver is open before removing the gallbladder. This adds risk as this intestinal incision can leak after surgery requiring an emergency surgery. This procedure also add time to the surgical procedure and to the anesthetic event which can be deleterious to unstable or ill patients.

Idiopathic epilepsy (IE) is a common disease in dogs. Up to 20-30% of these dogs are refractory to available therapies, and there is currently no cure for the disease. Fly biting syndrome is another neurological clinical manifestation of either a seizure or suspected gastrointestinal disease (GI). The syndrome consists of involuntary repetitive abnormal episodes and has been shown to involve a seizure activity of the brain in some cases but responds favorably to dietary changes and/or GI drugs much more commonly.

Osteosarcoma is a common cancer diagnosed in dogs, particularly in large breed dogs. While several chemotherapy protocols have been shown to provide modest management of the onset of metastasis (spread of cancer), we are continuously looking for additional treatments that may extend survival time.

Carboplatin is a widely accepted chemotherapy agent used in treatment of osteosarcoma. The results of this study will allow us to determine if dogs can successfully tolerate carboplatin and a new drug called Laverdia-CA1 (verdinexor) in a combination protocol.

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in dogs with few treatment options available. Traditional injectable chemotherapeutic drugs have been used to extend quality of life, achieve clinical remissions, and slow cancer progression, but are not feasible options for many families. Additional safe, low cost therapies are needed for canine patients.