When Did We Start Doing Bone Marrow In Dogs?

Many people, including those in the veterinary field, are not familiar with dogs receiving bone marrow transplants. Would you believe me if I told you that these have been performed starting in the 1960s?

The history of bone marrow transplants began with attempts to diminish the lethal effects of irradiation that were observed in the wake of the atomic bomb explosions toward the end of World War II. It was soon recognized that bone marrow was radiosensitive, and that bone marrow transplants could rescue radiation victims from the lethal effects of bone marrow depletion. This discovery encouraged clinicians and scientists to explore more aggressive protocols in patients with bone marrow diseases.

In 1957, Dr. Thomas and his colleagues reported studies of bone marrow grafting in patients with leukemia. They found after two years that bone marrow transplantation was for the most part unsuccessful. Patients were dying from either failure to graft the transplant or recurrent leukemia. The results proved disappointing and caused abandonment of the idea that bone marrow transplant could be used for bone marrow diseases.

In the 1960s, further research using canines developed 95% of successful human protocols used today! It is unbelievable that we have known about this, which Dr. Thomas has won a Nobel prize for, and has just been introduced to the privately owned

pets around 2005. That is almost five decades of the cure being published and proven to work. We are so thankful to Dr. Sutur, our co-founder of CTAC, for initiating this procedure to become a medical treatment offered to all.

Homemade Canine Treats

With 3 Easy Ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup of Natural Peanut Butter

** (Be careful! Some peanut butter has xylitol, wood sugar, birch sugar, and birch bark extract. All of these ingredients are TOXIC to your dog!)**

2 medium ripe bananas

2 cups of 1-minute oats

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 300F (150C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add the oats to a food processor and grind until they reach a fine powder. (If you do not have a food processor, using oat flour is an alternative). Add the bananas and peanut butter and blend until a sticky dough is formed.
3. Remove from the food processor and roll out on a lightly floured surface. (Use whole wheat flour, more ground oats, or another dog-safe flour that you have on hand to stop the dough from being too sticky, adding more as needed). I used a heart cookie cutter to cut out the treats but you could use any cookie cutter, or just cut them into squares with a knife or pizza cutter.
4. Lay the treats on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the treats are puffed up a bit, dry and dark brown on the bottoms, (they will still feel soft when first removed from the oven). The treats will get a bit more firm once they are cool but will still be a slightly softer dog treat. Let cool before giving one to your pup. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or I like to store them in my freezer which makes them firmer and makes them stay fresh a long time.