We are looking for a new family member (Cavalier King Charles ). I have read that they can have Heart Murmurs ,Eye Defects,Luxating Patella and Hip Dysplasia. What test's should the mum and dad had? How  common are this is this breed?

Also what questions should I be asking to ensure the puppy was breed well?

Thank you for all you help.

Hi
Unfortunately with a cavalier you can be almost guaranteed to have a heart problem eventually -50 % have it by age 5, 60 % by age 6 and almost 100 % by age 10. So it's very important that you buy from lines known to develop it as LATE in life as possible. The parents of any litter should not be less than 2 ½-3 years old, and THEIR parents in turn should be at least 5 years old and still with clear heart certificates.(So you need a breeder that knows their lines well and knows the health of the grandparents as well as the parents. Good breeders will!) Hearts should be tested every year, as should eyes. A good breeder will be able to show you current certificates as proof. Hip dysplasia isn't common and it is rare for breeders to hip score Cavaliers.

The other major problem in the breed is Syringomyelia and this is a difficult one -to be sure you don't breed from affected dogs the parents need to have been MRI scanned, but very, very few breeders do this (sadly!) and very few dogs are not affected or carrying it. A DNA test is being developed but won't be available for a few years yet so in a nutshell right not it's more or less pot luck.

Here's a few links for you to read that hopefully will be of interest:

Syringomyelia
Syringomyelia
More Syringo
Mitral Valve Disease (Hearts)
The Cavalier Club has health artices and can recommend breeders

Good luck!

Thank you for the reply,
I have just spoken to a breeder who has a 10 day old puppies, I asked her about the test's she said that both dogs(mum and dad) go to the vet yearly, she also said she doesn't have the dogs eye's tested. She is asking for £500 per puppy. Now I will happly pay £500 but for a puppy that's mum and dad has not have had there eye's checked I think I should look for another breeder???

Yearly check ups with the Vet mean nothing. 
The words touch and bargepole spring to mind! :(

have you looked on CD breeder pages for a litter/breeder?

I had a quick look on the KC site, and wow, HOW many litters?????????? Would the fact a breeder is an approved KC breeder be a good thing in regard to tests etc? Coz, if you trawl through the ads you will find the odd one that says that. Looked elsewhere, just can't believe how many there are for sale! No, dont want to start anything on here, but I just couldnt believe it. In all my looking, which admittedly wasnt long, I only found one litter with reference to heart tests (and only heart)

Cavaliers are a very commerical breed & are seen by lots of pet bitch owners as moneymakers. Be warned that just because a breeder as an ad on CD doesn't mean the has any knowledge of the breed other than as pets nor that they do any tests at all. They are not bred in vast numbers because they don't usually have big litters but they are also a favourite with puppy farmers especially those who cross them with another red & white spaniel !

Unfortunately being a KC accredited breeder doesn't mean anything either.  Someone who has never bred can be one !

I thought to be acredited it meant that if you did breed the parents had all the necessary health tests?

It actually only meant if you did the health tests for the breed that the KC recommended, so if you were a fairly new breed although the Breed Club and specialists knew there was a problem and had stated that all "breeding stock" should have the tests that didn't mean anything to the KC.  Luckily for our breed I believe that from July to stay on the KC accredited scheme that they will at least have to hip score their dogs but unfortunately people don't have to yet!  Oh and I think that the eye tests will only be recommended!

Well, thats says a lot for the wonderful scheem then lol.....thought the KC would have worked closer with breeders and breed clubs if they were going to make a system where the pups should stand above every other breeders!You see ads where people preclaim they are KC acreddited, as if a wonderful banner, but I gues it dont mean all that much after all!

Many breeders like myself that for years have done a lot more than the scheme asks do not want to pay to join such a scheme.  I feel rather insulted frankly to be asked to pay even more money to the Kennel club than I do already.  Have always thought that breeders with high standards ought to be given incentives to keep standards high, not be charged extra to join a supposedly elite scheme.

do king charles spaniels have the same health problems as the cavaliers?