Health Issues in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

In the process of producing any purebred animal, it is necessary to do a certain amount of inbreeding.  Although this is necessary to produce the desirable traits of the breed, it also tends to increase the incidence of certain health problems.  Fortunately, if a disease is genetic, the probability that it will occur can be minimized by testing the parents that are used for breeding.

In Cavaliers, there are four major health concerns for which we can test the parents:

• Heart Disease
  Cavaliers are susceptible to mitral valve disease, a condition that causes one of the heart valves to leak blood backward, forcing the heart to work harder in order to circulate the blood.  It shows up as a murmur, which can be detected by a canine cardiologist.  Nearly every Cavalier will develop a heart murmur after age 10, but it is a particularly debilitating condition if it shows up before age 5.
  Here at Blackfire Cavaliers, we follow a protocol of waiting until our bitches are over age 2, at which time we make certain they are cleared by a canine cardiologist.  These cardiologist exams are repeated every year during the breeding life of the bitch.  If the parents of a litter are at least 2 1/2 years old and heart clear, and their parents are at least 5 years old and heart clear, the puppies are nearly 90% likely to be free of early-onset heart disease.

• Eye Problems
  There are several genetic eye diseases particular to the Cavalier, including cataracts and retinal dysplasia.  After age 2, we have our bitches cleared by a canine ophthalmologist, and repeat those examinations on a yearly basis.

• Hip Dysplasia
  This condition, in which the top of the thigh bone does not fit tightly into the cup of the hip, can cause anything from minor discomfort to severe lameness in the dog's rear end.  Hip dysplasia can only be properly detected by an X-ray taken after the age of 2, and the X-ray must be evaluated by a properly trained specialist.
  Here at Blackfire Cavaliers, we send X-rays of our bitches to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, and will only breed the bitch if we receive a passing rating of Excellent, Good, or Fair.  Hip X-rays need not be repeated yearly; a single X-ray taken after age 2 is an excellent indicator of the presence or absence of hip dysplasia.

• Patellar Luxation
  This condition is present when the kneecap on the dog's rear leg becomes dislocated and slips out of its proper position.  In its most severe form, it can be a crippling disease and may require surgery for the dog to lead a normal life.  This is the only genetic condition that can be easily detected by a veterinarian, and should be tested for annually, as we do for our breeding Cavaliers.

We at Blackfire Cavaliers require the same testing for the stud dogs that we use as we do on our breeding bitches.  We recommend that anyone seeking a Cavalier puppy ask the breeder for copies of the health clearances on both parents.  Heart, eye and hip clearances should be from specialists, and all but the hip clearances should be dated within a year of the breeding.

There is a fifth disease that any prospective puppy owner should be aware of:

• Syringomyelia (SM)
  SM is caused by a malformation in the back of the skull, which disrupts the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid between the brain cavity and the spinal cord.  This blockage causes pockets of fluid (syrinxes) to form in the spinal column, and symptoms can range from a mild itch (manifested by phantom scratching) to severe pain.  Mild cases are often mistaken for allergies or skin problems, and, if properly diagnosed, can be managed with medication.  The most severely affected dogs, however, may require expensive and risky surgery.  While the only reliable method of diagnosing SM is by doing an MRI, there is presently no way to reliably tell whether a non-symptomatic dog will produce puppies with the disease.  SM is thought to be an inherited condition caused by a combination of various genes, but the research is still in its early stages.  We believe in keeping careful track of our puppies to determine if any come up with symptoms of SM, which will usually show up by age 3 or 4.  We will not breed a bitch whose puppies are symptomatic.

For more in-depth information on any of the above diseases, please visit the Premier Cavalier Infosite's health page.

View health information on our Cavaliers by clicking on the name:

• BlackFire at the Garden (Madison)

• Chadwick Pinckney at BlackFire (Pinckney)

• Chadwick Bewitched at BlackFire (Samantha)

• Chadwick September Song at BlackFire (Bexley)