Cavalier puppy-parent’s health checks. Does this sound good?

[Duckegg271]

I’ve gone through the KC Assured breeders list and found a breeder who has puppies due in a couple of months time. The parents have the following health checks:

-dna clear for curly coat, dry eye and episodic falling
-annual heart and eye check by specialist
-5 generation pedigree

They aren’t tested for syringomyelia. Does anyone know much about the 5 generation pedigree? Will this tell me if previous generations were affected? Many thanks.

[SqueakyChicken]

What answer has the breeder given you when you’ve asked why the parents aren’t MRI scanned?

It can be a contentious issue due to lack of knowledge over mode of inheritance, but the breeder should be able to tell you which of the grandparents are scanned and their history, and their reasons behind not scanning (which are preferably not just oh mine don’t have it).

Ideally at least one parent would be MRI scanned in my opinion. However, I have known a puppy that came from two scanned clear dogs who developed SM, so I can understand the reluctance to scan. There are some breeders that will use this as an excuse to bury their heads in the sand which is unacceptable.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

A five generation pedigree is not a health test. All it will do is give you the kennel names (and any awards) of a dog's ancestors. You can use those kennel names to check on the KC website to see if any of the ancestors were ever health tested for anything.

You'd want to see the results of the annual heart checks. These won't mean a great deal if the parent dogs are very young, since the chance of mitral valve disease being diagnosed increases year on year, and the breed is riddled with it.

As for syringomyelia... no, not testing isn't good enough, in my view. It's a widespread problem in the breed, and the consequences can be devastating.

They are sweet dogs, but the health issues would put me right off.

[Duckegg271]

Thankyou for the replies. They said they don’t test as it’s not a KC requirement (so heads buried in sand I suspect).

Mum is 2.5 and dad is 3.5.

On a side note. I’ve seen an advert for cavapoo puppies. £2k per puppy. No health screening at all. Just a puppy vet check. What a disgrace.

[Knitclubchatter]

Cavaliers are seriously inbred to the point of multiple health conditions, mix breeds tend to avoid the genetic link problems.

[Preggosaurus9]

SM and heart problems are awful in Cavs. My girl had the sweetest temperament but by age 2 was suffering from both. Expensive meds for life and quality of life declined horribly. I would never get a Cav again unless I could be sure they came from a healthy lineage.

[Duckegg271]

Knitclubchatter it doesn’t matter if it’s a mixed breed, if it’s mixed with a cavalier they still need all the health screening done.

It breed from a cavalier that’s had no screens and then charge £2k per puppy (and there’s 8 in the litter!) is an absolute disgrace.

[AnnaFiveTowns]

I have a KCS. We got him because the kids fell in love with their cousin's KC and they only wanted a KC. With hindsight I wouldn't have got one. As others have said, the breed is not healthy and I just don't think it's fair to encourage breeders to keep on breeding certain breeds of dog; pugs and other flat faced breeds are even worse. My dog snores terribly; he may suffer from headaches from having such a small head but I'll never know that. He's a lovely natured dog and we love him but I feel guilty now for getting him. He's 10 now and has heart problems and possible diabetes and I don't think he's going to be around for very much longer. So my advice would be to choose another breed or a mongrel.

[ScreamingValenta]

Regarding the heart check, you need more detail - ideally you need to know at what age the grandparents' hearts were still clear if the parents are only 2 and 3. Some cavaliers develop a murmur at 3 or even younger. From age 5 upwards, murmurs become increasingly common, but younger than 5 and you should steer clear.

I agree with the comments above about SM.

[Duckegg271]

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve learnt so much over the last few days. Ultimately that a KCS isn’t the breed for us. Absolutely beautiful dogs but I just can’t find a breeder who’s done the relevant checks so it’ll have to be a no.