Often exotic animals in captivity or in animal sanctuaries suffer from many of the same chronic ailments as humans and companion animals, including osteoarthritis and chronic infections. Treatment for these conditions is often difficult due to the necessity of delivering daily medications. For this reason, stem cell therapy, which can induce long-lasting improvements from a single treatment, is an attractive option for treating these patients. In addition, our group at the CIRM has developed new techniques for generating stem cells from blood of most exotic species, which makes procuring stem cells for treatment much simpler.