Cocker spaniel named Coco is travelling 4,000 miles to North Carolina in desperate bid to save one of her puppies using a pioneering stem cell transplant that will cost thousands

• Coco and her owner have travelled from Darwen, Lancashire, to North Carolina
• She gave birth six years ago to Millie who was recently diagnosed with cancer
• Millie started chemotherapy but now a bone marrow transplant is her only hope

An adorable dog is travelling 4,000 miles to America in a desperate bid to save the life of one of her sick puppies with a pioneering stem cell transplant. 

Coco, the cocker spaniel, and her owner Robert Alcock travelled from their home in Darwen, Lancashire, to North Carolina yesterday to reunite with one of her litter.

Coco gave birth to Millie in the UK six years ago before the pup moved across the pond with her new owners, where she was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Coco, the cocker spaniel, and her owner Robert Alcock (pictured together) travelled from their home in Darwen, Lancashire, to North Carolina yesterday to reunite with one of her litter

Millie started chemotherapy three months ago but now her only chance at survival is through a rare stem cell treatment, which can only be performed at one US hospital.

Her owners, Serena and Andrew Lodge from San Francisco, have funded the entire trip and are paying for the costly treatment which is likely to run into the thousands of dollars.

The stem cell transplant will be performed on Sunday at the NC State Veterinary Hospital which is one of the only animal hospitals in the world to offer the treatment.

Coco (left) gave birth to Millie (right) in the UK six years ago before the pup moved with her new owners across the pond, where she was recently diagnosed with cancer

The experimental procedure involves taking healthy blood stem cells from Coco’s bone marrow and injecting them into Millie to replace her diseased ones.

Catering manager Robert said: ‘Serena and Andrew started chemo on Millie three months ago but they’ve been told the only chance they’ll have of curing her is if they find a positive donor so she can have a transplant.

‘They contacted us and we sent some blood samples for testing along with samples from one of Coco’s other pups.

‘They both came back positive but because Coco is Millie’s mother the vet said she would be a better match.’

Millie (pictured last week) began chemotherapy three months ago but now her only chance of survival is to undergo a bone marrow transplant

After receiving the test results Serena and Andrew asked 52-year-old Robert if he would be willing to fly to the USA with seven-year-old Coco to try and help save Millie’s life.

Robert said: ‘The Lodges have paid for everything and I didn’t like to ask how much the operation is costing but I think it will be in the thousands.

‘We will be in America for about a week.

Millie’s owners, Andrew and Serena, emigrated to America for work. They have been warned that even if the operation is a success there is only a 50 per cent chance Millie (pictured) will be cured

‘Coco will go into hospital on Sunday for the procedure and then the cells will be donated on Monday.’

Andrew and Serena, who emigrated to America for work, have been warned even if the operation is a success there is only a 50 per cent chance Millie will be cured.

Coco is expected to make a full recovery from the operation.

Robert said: ‘If it was a human then the chances of survival would be really good.

‘But this is a pioneering procedure, they haven’t done very many of these transplants before, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.’ 

Source: Read Full Article