You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Typically chylothorax presents as a white, milky, fluid effusion in the chest - but there are situations when chyle can be straw coloured

Chyle may appear to be straw-coloured if the animal is :

• Anorectic
• Has fat malabsorption
• Has been fed a low-fat ration - for example weight reduction diets are often low fat and high in fibre content - which further reduces fat digestion/absorption

So, effusive fluids drained from the chest should be analysed for fat content. Chyle being lymph typically contains more triglyceride than serum (even if it does not appear to be milky), but it's cholesterol content is lower than serum. If the pleural fluid has a cholesterol:triglyceride ratio of less than 0.2 it is chylothorax.

Last updated : October 2013