Two weeks after a life-saving bone marrow transplant, Maverick the dog was released from NC State's Veterinary Hospital on Monday. He was the third dog to undergo the procedure since the program started in November, but the waiting list is growing.

Maverick's owners, Howie and Marna Altman, found out about the N.C. State program after he was diagnosed with leukemia in late October. An odyssey of blood tests and chemotherapy followed until the Jan. 23 transplant.

"Maverick has done fantastic," said Dr. Steven Suter, a veterinary oncologist at N.C. State's College of Veterinary Medicine. "He was hardly sick at all from the radiation. He looks fantastic, he's doing fantastic, so it's a great day."

Stem cells were taken from Maverick's blood and then returned to him after full-body radiation to kill the cancer cells in his bone marrow. He spent two weeks in isolation to allow time for the cells to regenerate. Aside from some follow up blood tests, doctors expect him to be back to normal.

"Maverick should be completely normal at home," said Suter. "His blood cells will normalize. They're still pretty low , but they'll come up over the next four to six weeks. So he should just be normal, healthy, happy having a great time at home. That's it. He's a normal dog. "

The Altmans were hesitant to use the words "cancer-free", but are optimistic about a full recovery. If tail-wagging is any indication, Maverick is feeling great.

"I've been more cautious with handling him because I have this crazy fear that he's more delicate than he is right now," said Howie Altman. "I'll have to get over that."

Altman said an ultrasound of Maverick's abdomen showed a tumor in his spleen was gone and his lymph nodes were normal. That's great news for N.C. State's program, which is the only one in the country offering the procedure.

Following the success with Maverick and two other dogs, the program is drawing patients from across the country. Fifteen dogs are on the waiting list.

"I've actually scheduled four more in the two weeks that Maverick has been here," said Suter.