Regenerative Therapies for Dogs – PRP, Stem Cell, and Ozone

Roughly 1 in 4 dogs will develop osteoarthritis in their lifetime, and many will live with it for years. For some of those dogs, standard tools—NSAIDs, joint supplements, weight control, maybe surgery—help, but don’t fully solve the problem. That gap is exactly where regenerative therapies like PRP, stem cells, and ozone have stepped in: not as magic fixes, but as attempts to nudge the body’s own repair systems to do more than they’re doing on their own.

If you’re here, you may be standing in that gap yourself—watching a dog you love slow down, hearing about “cutting-edge” options, and trying to work out what’s real, what’s hopeful, and what’s hype.

This article is for that headspace.

We’ll walk through what these therapies actually are, what the science says so far, what tends to go well, what’s still uncertain, and how to think about decisions without feeling like you’re either “giving up” or “gambling” on your dog.

What “regenerative” actually means in dog medicine

Regenerative therapies aim to stimulate or support the body’s own healing processes rather than simply blocking pain or replacing tissue surgically.

They’re mostly used for:

• Chronic musculoskeletal disease

  • Osteoarthritis (hips, elbows, knees, spine)

  • Degenerative joint disease after injury or surgery

    
    

• Soft tissue injuries

  • Tendon and ligament damage (e.g., cruciate ligament, shoulder tendons)

    
    

• Wounds and tissue defects

  • Non-healing wounds, ulcers, burns

  • Some bone or dental defects

    
    

They are usually adjuncts, not replacements:

• They sit alongside weight management, pain relief, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery.

• They are often offered after standard options have been tried or when owners want to delay or avoid major surgery.

Here’s a quick orientation:

Therapy	What it is	Typical uses in dogs
PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma)	Concentrated platelets from the dog’s own blood, rich in growth factors that can promote healing and reduce inflammation.	Osteoarthritis, tendon/ligament injuries, wound healing, some dental/bone regeneration.
Stem Cell Therapy	Mesenchymal stem cells (usually from fat or bone marrow) that can modulate inflammation and help regenerate tissue.	Cartilage repair, osteoarthritis, tendon/ligament healing, some bone defects.
Ozone Therapy	Medical-grade ozone gas used for its proposed antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects.	Chronic wounds, infections, some inflammatory conditions (still quite experimental).

“Regenerative” doesn’t mean “guaranteed to regrow perfect cartilage” or “reverse aging.” It usually means “improve function and reduce pain by improving the repair environment in the joint or tissue.”

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP): the current front-runner

Among the three, PRP is the most widely used and best studied in dogs. It’s still not perfectly standardized, but compared to stem cells and ozone, it has the strongest combination of clinical use and published data.

How PRP works, in plain language

Platelets are not just “clotting cells.” They are also little packets of growth factors and signaling molecules. When tissue is injured, platelets gather, release these factors, and help coordinate:

• Reduced inflammation

• New blood vessel formation (angiogenesis)

• Recruitment of repair cells

• Tissue remodeling

PRP takes this natural process and concentrates it:

1. Your dog’s blood is drawn.

2. It’s spun in a centrifuge to separate and concentrate platelets.

3. The platelet-rich layer is collected.

4. That PRP is injected into the affected joint, tendon, ligament, or wound.

Most veterinary protocols use autologous PRP—meaning it comes from your dog, not a donor—so there’s essentially no risk of immune rejection.[4]

What conditions PRP is used for

Common indications include:

• Osteoarthritis (hips, elbows, knees, shoulders, spine)

• Tendon and ligament injuries (e.g., partial cruciate tears, shoulder tendinopathies)

• Chronic wounds and ulcers

• Bone or dental defects, often in combination with other materials or stem cells[3]

Some clinics also use PRP after orthopedic surgery to support healing.

What the evidence says

Across multiple studies and clinical reports:

• Improvement rates  

  • Many studies and case series report clinical improvement in roughly 70–80% of dogs treated for osteoarthritis or soft tissue injuries.[1][2][4]

  • Improvement usually means: better mobility, reduced lameness, more willingness to exercise, and lower pain scores.

    
    

• Onset of effect  

  • Owners often see changes within days to a few weeks.[1][2]

  • Dogs may start getting up more easily, walking further, or hesitating less on stairs.

    
    

• How long it lasts  

  • For many dogs, benefits last several months; some owners and studies report improvement for up to 12 months.[2][4]

  • Not every dog gets that long a response—there’s wide individual variation.

    
    

• Wounds and tissue repair  

  • PRP has been shown to accelerate healing in burns, ulcers, and some bone defects, especially when combined with stem cells or bioceramic materials.[3]

  • It can stimulate new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis), which helps healing but can also cause temporary swelling at the injection site.[3]

    
    

What’s important to know:PRP is not a cure for osteoarthritis. Joints remain structurally abnormal. But for many dogs, it can significantly reduce pain and improve function for a meaningful period.

Safety and side effects

PRP is generally considered very safe in dogs.[4][7]

Typical points to know:

• Main side effects

  • Mild soreness or stiffness at the injection site.

  • Temporary swelling, especially in joints or wounds due to increased blood flow and angiogenesis.[3]

  • These usually resolve within a few days.

    
    

• Systemic side effects

  • Because it’s your dog’s own blood product, systemic reactions are very rare.

  • The bigger procedural risks are related to sedation or anesthesia (needed for many intra-articular injections to keep the joint still and the needle placement precise).[7]

If your dog has other health issues (heart disease, kidney disease, clotting disorders), your vet will weigh the sedation risk carefully.

What the procedure looks like from your side

While every clinic has its own setup, the rough flow is:

1. Pre-visit discussion and exam

   • Your vet confirms that the joint/tendon/wound is an appropriate target.

   • Imaging (X-rays, sometimes ultrasound) is often used to define the problem.

     
     

2. Day of treatment

   • Your dog may be fasted if sedation is planned.

   • Blood is drawn (often 10–60 ml, depending on the system used).

   • The blood is processed on-site (centrifuged) to create PRP.

   • Under sedation or light anesthesia, PRP is injected into:

     • The joint space (intra-articular), or

     • Around a tendon/ligament, or

     • Applied directly to a wound.

       
       

3. Aftercare

   • Short rest period—often a few days of reduced activity, then a gradual return to normal.

   • Your vet may adjust pain meds or physical therapy around the treatment.

Owners often describe the logistics as similar to a day procedure: drop off in the morning, home by afternoon.

Where the science is still catching up

This is where expectations need to stay grounded:

• Not all PRP is the same.Different clinics use different systems, leading to different platelet concentrations and different mixes of white blood cells.[1][3]That variability likely contributes to why some dogs do brilliantly and others barely change.

• No gold-standard protocol yet.We don’t have universally agreed answers to questions like:

  • “What’s the ideal platelet concentration?”

  • “Should we remove most white cells or leave them?”

  • “How often should injections be repeated?”[1][3][7]

• Long-term data is limited.We have promising results up to about 12 months in many dogs, but solid data beyond that are sparse.[1]

• Controlled trials are still relatively few.We have some controlled studies, but not nearly as many as for things like NSAIDs.[8] That doesn’t mean PRP doesn’t work; it means we’re still refining how, when, and for whom it works best.

For you, this translates into: PRP is a reasonable, evidence-supported option for many dogs with arthritis or soft tissue injuries—but it’s not predictable in the way a standard pain medication is.

Stem cell therapy: powerful concept, more complex reality

Stem cell therapy is often mentioned in the same breath as PRP, and sometimes the two are used together.

What stem cell therapy is trying to do

Most veterinary stem cell treatments use mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), typically harvested from:

• Adipose (fat) tissue

• Less commonly, bone marrow

These cells can:

• Differentiate into certain tissue types (e.g., cartilage, bone, tendon cells).

• Release anti-inflammatory and regenerative signaling molecules.

• Modulate the immune response in the joint or injured area.

In theory, this allows them to:

• Help rebuild damaged cartilage or tendon tissue.

• Reduce inflammation more profoundly than many drugs.

• Create a more favorable long-term environment in the joint.

  
  

How it’s done

A typical stem cell protocol might look like:

1. Harvest  

   • Under anesthesia, a small amount of fat is surgically collected (commonly from the abdomen or around the shoulder).

   • Alternatively, bone marrow may be aspirated.

     
     

2. Processing  

   • The tissue is processed either in-clinic or at a specialized lab to isolate and concentrate MSCs.

     
     

3. Injection  

   • The stem cells are injected into:

     • Joints (e.g., hips, elbows, knees), and/or

     • A vein (systemic administration, depending on the protocol).

       
       

4. Sometimes combined with PRP  

   • PRP may be added at the same time to provide growth factors that support the stem cells’ activity, especially for bone or dental defects.[3]

     
     

What we know and don’t know

Stem cells likely have real regenerative and anti-inflammatory effects, and they’ve shown promise in:

• Cartilage repair

• Tendon and ligament healing

• Osteoarthritis symptom relief

But compared to PRP:

• The published veterinary data set is smaller (especially in dogs).

• Protocols vary widely between clinics and labs.

• Long-term, large-scale, controlled studies are still limited.

In practice, many vets reserve stem cell therapy for:

• Dogs who have not responded enough to other treatments (including PRP).

• Owners who are highly motivated and able to afford a more complex, costly procedure.

• Cases where there’s a specific structural goal (e.g., trying to improve cartilage in a very damaged joint).

Practical considerations

• Complexity  

  • Requires surgical harvesting, specialized handling, and often collaboration with a stem cell lab.

  • More moving parts = more cost and more variables.

• Cost  

  • Typically higher than PRP due to anesthesia, surgery, and lab processing.

• Ethical and evidence questions  

  • As with PRP, we still lack standardization and long-term controlled trials for many indications.

  • Vets need to be especially careful not to overpromise.

For many owners, this therapy sits in the category of: potentially valuable, but clearly experimental and resource-intensive. It’s reasonable to ask your vet directly how many cases they’ve done, what outcomes they’ve seen, and how they’ll judge whether it was worthwhile.

Ozone therapy: the experimental fringe

Ozone therapy is the outlier in this trio.

What ozone therapy is

Medical ozone is a mixture of oxygen (O₂) and ozone (O₃). It’s used in some human and veterinary settings for its proposed:

• Antimicrobial effects (killing bacteria, viruses, fungi)

• Anti-inflammatory and circulation-improving effects

In dogs, it has been used in some clinics for:

• Chronic, non-healing wounds

• Infections

• Some inflammatory conditions

Delivery methods can include topical application, injections, or other routes, depending on the protocol.

The evidence reality

For dogs specifically:

• Robust, high-quality scientific data are minimal.

• Most use is adjunctive and experimental, often combined with more conventional treatments.

• It is less mainstream than PRP or stem cells in veterinary orthopedics and chronic care.

This doesn’t mean it’s useless; it means we don’t yet have strong evidence to confidently place it on the same footing as PRP for arthritis or tendon injuries.

If ozone therapy is offered to you:

• It’s reasonable to view it as experimental.

• Ask your vet:

  • What specific outcome are we hoping for?

  • What evidence supports this for my dog’s condition?

  • How will we know if it’s helping?

How often do these therapies actually help?

Numbers can help cut through the fog a bit.

From current studies and clinical reports (especially for PRP):

• Improvement rates:  

  • Around 70–80% of dogs treated with PRP for osteoarthritis or soft tissue injuries show some level of clinical improvement.[1][2][4]

  • That might mean less limping, more willingness to move, or better pain scores.

    
    

• Duration of benefit:  

  • Many dogs experience several months of relief.

  • A subset maintain clear benefits for up to 12 months.[2][4]

  • Some dogs show little or no change.

For stem cells and ozone, we don’t have equally solid, broad numbers yet. Much of the information is from smaller studies and clinic-level experience.

What these numbers don’t do is tell you which group your dog will fall into. That uncertainty is often the hardest part emotionally.

The emotional layer: hope, guilt, and “doing enough”

Regenerative therapies live in an emotionally loaded zone:

• They are often offered when a dog has chronic pain or has failed standard therapies.

• They are associated with words like “natural,” “cutting-edge,” and “regenerative,” which can sound almost miraculous.

• They can be expensive, and sometimes require repeat treatments.

Common emotional themes owners describe:

• Hope: “Maybe this will give them their puppy-like joy back for a while.”

• Pressure: “If I don’t do this, am I failing them?”

• Guilt about money: “If I say no because of cost, what does that say about me?”

• Uncertainty: “What if we spend all this and nothing changes?”

On the veterinarian’s side:

• Balancing optimism and realism: wanting to offer new options without overselling them.

• Time pressure: explaining complex, evolving science in a short appointment.

• Emotional labor: supporting families as they make big decisions with imperfect information.

• Ethical tension: making sure recommendations are about the dog’s welfare, not just available technology or clinic economics.

None of this is a sign you’re “too emotional” or “not scientific enough.” It’s the normal human response to caring deeply about a being whose life is both precious and finite.

Talking with your vet: questions that bring clarity

You don’t need to become a regenerative medicine expert to have a good conversation. You just need a few focused questions.

Here are some that often help:

About fit and expectations

• “Given my dog’s specific condition and age, what realistic improvement would you hope for with PRP/stem cells?”(More walking? Less pain meds? Slower decline?)

• “How will we measure whether it worked?”Pain scores, activity level, lameness exams, video comparisons, etc.

• “If we see no improvement, how soon would that be clear?”Days? Weeks? Months?

About evidence and experience

• “How many cases like this have you treated with PRP/stem cells/ozone?”

• “What outcomes have you seen, and how often do you see no change?”

• “Are there published studies that apply to a case like my dog’s?”

About logistics and risk

• “What does the day of the procedure look like for my dog?”

• “What are the main risks—from the injection itself and from sedation/anesthesia?”

• “What aftercare or activity restrictions will we need to plan for?”

About cost and long-term planning

• “What is the total cost, including follow-up visits and potential repeat treatments?”

• “If this helps, how often might we need to repeat it?”

• “If this doesn’t help, what are our next best options?”

A good vet will welcome these questions. If you leave the conversation feeling rushed or pressured, it’s okay to ask for a follow-up appointment or even a second opinion.

Ethics in the background: innovation vs. overpromising

Regenerative therapies sit in an ethically tricky space:

• Evidence is promising but incomplete.

• Owner hope is high.

• Costs can be substantial.

• Preparation and protocols are not standardized.

This creates a few tensions:

• Standard of care vs. experimentation  

  • For many conditions, PRP and stem cells are adjunctive or experimental, not yet the clear standard of care.

  • That’s not inherently bad—medicine advances this way—but it should be named honestly.

• Financial conflicts of interest  

  • Clinics invest in equipment and training; there can be pressure (conscious or not) to recoup that investment.

  • Transparency about costs, alternatives, and uncertainty is critical.

• Fairness and access  

  • Not all owners can afford these therapies, and not all clinics offer them.

  • Saying “no” because of finances is not a moral failure; it’s a reality of healthcare systems.

Ethical veterinary practice means:

• Offering regenerative options when appropriate.

• Being clear about what we know, what we don’t, and what it will cost.

• Keeping the dog’s comfort and quality of life at the center—not the technology itself.

  
  

Where regenerative therapies fit in long-term care

It can help to picture your dog’s care as a toolbox, not a single silver bullet.

For chronic conditions like osteoarthritis, that toolbox might include:

• Weight management (often the single most powerful intervention)

• Pain control

  • NSAIDs

  • Other analgesics and adjuncts (e.g., gabapentin, amantadine)

• Joint support

  • Omega-3s, joint supplements (e.g., glucosamine/chondroitin)

• Physical therapy and rehabilitation

  • Hydrotherapy, targeted exercises, laser therapy, acupuncture

• Environmental adjustments

  • Ramps, non-slip flooring, supportive beds

• Surgery when structurally indicated (e.g., cruciate ligament repair, joint replacement)

• Regenerative therapies

  • PRP, stem cells, occasionally ozone, integrated into this broader plan

Key point: PRP or stem cells rarely replace all of the above. Instead, they can:

• Reduce the dose or number of pain medications needed.

• Improve function enough to make physical therapy more effective.

• Delay or complement surgery.

• Extend the “good months” or years in a chronic condition.

Long-term follow-up with your vet is important—to track how your dog is doing, adjust treatments, and decide if/when to repeat regenerative procedures.

Making peace with imperfect choices

Standing at the crossroads of “do we try this?” can feel like there’s a right and wrong answer hidden somewhere in the science.

There isn’t.

There is only:

• What we currently know about these therapies.

• What your vet sees in front of them: your dog’s body, temperament, and disease.

• What you know about your dog’s joy in daily life.

• What you can realistically manage—emotionally, logistically, and financially.

Some families decide: “Yes, let’s try PRP. If it gives him six more months of comfortable walks, that’s worth it.”Others decide: “No, we’ll focus on meds, weight, and making every day gentle and good.”

Both are caring decisions.

Regenerative medicine in dogs is an evolving story. New studies will refine protocols, clarify who benefits most, and probably add new tools to the list. For now, your job is not to predict the future perfectly—it’s to choose, with your vet, the next step that best aligns with your dog’s comfort and your reality.

That, in itself, is doing enough.

References

1. American Kennel Club. Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy for Dogs.

2. Timberline Veterinary Emergency Hospital. PRP for Dogs – Blog.

3. F. Lana, et al. Therapeutic Potential of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Canine Medicine. Frontiers in Veterinary Science / PMC.

4. Transcend Biologics. Unlocking Regenerative Medicine for Pets – TropoVet PRP.

5. Bayside Veterinary Hospital. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Treatment – Client Information PDF.

6. East & West Animal Hospital. PRP Therapy Overview.

7. VCA Animal Hospitals. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy in Dogs.

8. Franklin, S.P., et al. Controlled Studies on Intra-Articular PRP Injection in Dogs with Osteoarthritis. Veterinary and Comparative Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Wiley Online Library.