Idiopathic Chylothorax

Hi Lab Board!

Long time no visit! Short update, finished grad school, just became a teacher, and have added another labbie to the mix. My little guy Bronson is just having a heck of a time. He's almost 2 years old, but has been through the ringer so to speak. When we first picked him up our vet gave him 50/50 chance of survival as he was the runt of his litter. We adopted him from a friend of ours who's dog had puppies, all the other puppies in the litter are all healthy lively labs. Which brings me back to Bronson.

About a week ago I took him into the Vet for a check up because for a 1 1/2 year old lab he couldn't keep up on walks with Kain. Long story short they did X Ray's and found a large amount of fluid in his chest. By the end of the day they drained 3 liters of fluid from his chest. He was transferred from our primary vet to a specialist and from there I transferred him to a different specialist. During the process he developed pneumothorax which could be attributed to the chest taps or his lungs re-expanding. He was at the Vet for a total of 7 days and has gone through so much for such a young dog. He'll see the cardiologist this Monday to rule out any heart related diseases. At this point it's being diagnosed as idiopathic chylothorax.

I've read just about everything I can get my hands on and its one of the most unknown diagnosis Vet's deal with and is primarily in cats. Our hope is that just as sudden as it developed it will heal and never come back. He has been prescribed a Hill's Science Diet wet food low fat digestive care. I'm sure some of you have seen the ingredients and gasped.

Has anyone here heard of this diagnosis or know possible things to help out with it? I'm looking to start him on a home cooked diet because the fat content in his food can be no more than 7%. On Monday I'm going to try to find a Vet who specializes in canine nutrition to get the ball rolling with this. We're back in So Cal after living in Nor Cal for a while. This most recent vet where he spent 5 days were the most amazing human beings on the face of the Earth. I did reach out to UC Davis Vet School for any research they may be doing and am thinking about my next trip up there making him an appointment to see one of their Vets as well.

Sorry for the long post. I've attached a link of my little guy from one of our vet visits! For the life of me I can't remember how to post pictures on here but will try to figure it out soon!

Hey there! We've also been MIA lately but popped in and just saw this post. I don't know anything about Bronson's condition but having dealt with Daisy's Cushing's diagnosis last summer we can relate. Sending our very best lab (and doxie) mojo and we hope you find the answers you need soon. Hugs to you and Bronson (and Kain too!).
-Ashley, Daisy, & Lily

So sorry. Have never heard of this problem. Wanted to send along lab board mojo and prayers that it resolves. Please keep us updated.

I'm sorry...I have no experience with this. I just wanted to send good thoughts that Bronson will be OK.

Oh dear. I've not heard of it either. Hope he gets over it soon. Oban needs a low fat diet for his problem which is Lymphangiectasia. Many people on a FB site for this disease use RC low fat. WE use Raynes, which is higher in fat but the RC didn't help us. Most are very leery of raw and home cooked because it is so hard to control fat levels. Good luck.