CHARLOTTE – May is National Arthritis Month and we are taking this as an opportunity to focus on different services that we use to help treat fur babies suffering from arthritis. This week we are spotlighting a treatment called PRP. 

Many people have no idea what PRP is, and we love educating pet parents on this amazing treatment. PRP is short for Platelet-Rich Plasma and falls under the category of regenerative medicine because it uses the healing benefits of an animal’s own blood to jumpstart recovery. After an injury, platelets and other blood components such as growth factors rush to the damaged area to tell the body to “start healing.” With PRP therapy, we use your pet’s own body to promote a huge signal to start healing immediately. This is why PRP is so fast and effective. 

PRP therapy is scheduled as an outpatient procedure and is minimally invasive. A blood sample is drawn from your pet and is spun down. The goal is to remove the white and red blood cells and leave platelets and the liquid part of the blood called plasma – hence the name platelet-rich plasma. Then, using sterile surgical techniques the PRP is injected into the wound or joint.

We typically use PRP therapy to treat tendon or ligament injuries or to help ease an arthritic fur baby. We recently had the pleasure of using PRP therapy to help one of our pet parent’s senior dogs Lucy, who she had recently rescued. Lucy had damaged knees that were sore and arthritic from torn ACL’s. After receiving PRP injections to help rebuild the cartilage in Lucy’s knees, she made a huge recovery. She is in less pain, has more energy, and her previously unstable legs showed a significant reduction in shakiness that has allowed her to play and walk like she did in her younger years.

Passionate Paws Animal Hospital is a proud member of the Union County Chamber of Commerce.