I am getting a cavalier king charles puppy soon, and i wanted to find out how common it is for the pups to get heart diseases? Is it always fatal or is there a treatment?

Don't be tempted to buy a puppy that has come from untested parents. Ask to see the certificates for both parents, don't be fobbed off.

Dawn R.

Dawn is spot on No Cavalier should be bred from unless it is heart & eye yested with a current cerificate ie has been tested within 12 months of the puppies being born.& also be at least 2 1/2 years of age at the time of mating

The parents should ideally MRI'd for Syringohydromyelia & be clear although this doesn't guarantee the puppies will not develop this awful genetic condition until the genome for the Cavalier is fully mapped & the marker genes for SHM foundit is all we have

BTW the current veterinary advise is not to inbreed too closely as well as not to breed from the offspring of dogs with SHM, or siblings of dogs with SHM

This is a subject very close to my heart as I have a beautiful boy who has asymptomatic SHM( & whose father had SHM he was PTS before his third birthday)whose brother is being actively used at stud without being scanned

Unfortunately virtually all Cavaliers will develop a heart murmur eventually -the official figures are something like 50 % of all will have it by the age of 5, and another 48 % by the age of 10. This is why it is so essential to make sure the parents and grandparents of any litter are tested regularly, and only dogs that develop it as late as posisble in life are bred from.

There is treatment, heart medication daily once the dog is affacted enough to feel unwell. I have a cavalier aged 10, almost 11, that has been on heart medication for almost 4 years now. 3 years ago my vet said he would not live until Christmas, but here we are, facing the third Christmas since then. :)

Others stay healthy with a more minor murmur, without medication, and live to 14 even. Those from untested parents may die already aged 5 or 6, so you see just how important it is with regular testing of the breeding animals.

Also like Moonmaiden says there is the added problem of Syringohydromelia.

A DNA test is being developed that hopefully in a few years time will test for both.