Help Save Our Hawaii Girl Three Bells

Three Bells is my love, my life, my everything dog (though I always say I'm her dog). About two months ago she started coughing and gagging. I thought she had a doggie cold / kennel cough and was waiting for it to pass, but it only got worse. It ended up being Chylothorax, a not very common condition in dogs especially of her breed (it's more typical in young small or over-weight large dogs). The only thing I can come up with is that it was caused by an injury or perhaps a fungus (mold). Without getting into too much detail it causes the lymphatic fluid to fill her cheat cavity until her lungs can't contract and she isn't able to breath. We have to knock her out and drain her (half a gallon of fluid!) but it only lasts a week until she's uncomfortable again. We tried a diet change to low fat foods and many supplements without much success, and we need to act fast or it can cause fibrosis of the pericardium. She's more weak after each draining, and the prognosis without surgery is not good.

Bells needs a Thoractic Duct Ligation, Cisterna Chyli Ablation, and a possible Sub-total Pericardectomy, which will cost around $7-8,000, not including other diagnostics (X-Rays, ultrasound, echocardiogram, testing of the fluids...). We've already spent $1,500, but because this happened so quickly we just weren't prepared. Because there are no surgeons who can perform this on Kauai, we have to fly her to Oahu, and all that will entail.

The success rate for these surgeries is now up to 80-100%, so if all goes well we're hoping she can get back soon to what she loves most: swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, making people smile, and babysitting kids on the beach!

Mahalo nui loa for your kokua!