Cavalier Health

Below are articles on plant genetic diseases, which are subject to the Cavalier king Charles Spaniels.

Cavalier Health

Cavaliers are generally a happy, healthy breed of dog. However, as with many other breeds, there are genetic health problems.

The main health problems in the breed are:

Mitral Valve Disease of the heart (MVD)
Syringomyelia (SM)
Eye – Hereditary Cataract
Multi-focal Retinal Dysplasia (MRD)

Mitral Valve Disease

We are grateful to Anne Marie Rasmussen from Canada who has written about :

Mitral Valve Disease

What is Mitral Valve Disease (MVD)?

The heart consists of 4 chambers, 2 atria and 2 ventricles, with the atrioventricular valves ensuring that blood flows from the atria to the ventricles when the heart is beating. A defect or weakness in the mitral valve or the left atrioventricular valve allows some blood to move back into the left atrium, known as mitral regurgitation. This means the heart is less efficient at pumping blood through the body.

Mitral valve insuffiency is the most common of the acquired cardiac disesase in older dogs, affecting over 1/3 of dogs older than 10 years. However, in certain breeds, mitral valve insufficiency develops at a younger age, due to an inherited predisposition for the disorder.

Syringomyelia

WHAT IS IT?

There is no better description of this defect than that written by Clare Rusbridge and published on the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel website. (www.thecavalierclub.co.uk)

HOW IS IT TRANSMITTED?

Syringomyelia is an INHERITED genetic defect. Transmission takes the form of an autosomal recessive gene with incomplete penetration. Therefore, an affected dog if it is line bred, then the defect takes on a more severe form and occurs earlier in the dogs life.

HOW IS IT DIAGNOSED?

Visual symptoms are the earliest indication of this defect. Accurate diagnosis is confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, but clinical symptoms may be sufficient for diagnosis.

EPISODIC FALLING SYNDROME IN CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIELS (EFS)

DESCRIPTION OF SYMPTOMS AND

Overview

While this set of symptoms may seem complicated, one veterinarian has told us that EFS looks like "nothing else".

EFS is an 'exercise-induced hypertonicity disorder' meaning that there is increased muscle tone and the muscles are unable to relax. Episodes will be in response to excitement, exercise, or frustration, except in severe cases. Then symptoms may be chronic or happen with no apparent cause.

Episodic Falling Syndrome displays itself as an array of symptoms so it is not easy to describe. Each dog will have it's own expression of the disorder. The frequency, type and/or severity of episodes may increase, decrease or change as the dog gets older. Therefore, there is no pattern to the progression of EFS.