This review introduces the three main types of stem cells relevant to veterinary applications – embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells – and draws together the research findings from in vitro and in vivo studies to give an overview of the current state-of-play of stem cell therapies for treating osteoarthritis in veterinary medicine.

The review concludes by discussing recent advances in tissue engineering, which is proposed as the future direction of effective stem cell-based therapies for osteoarthritis.