Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

He is absolutely adorable! What is his name? They are so sweet and cute at that age.

Give Shan some time. Oliver didn't want Henry anywhere near him in the first several days. Oliver was never snappy, but he would run and try to hide from the puppy. As I type this, I can hear the two of them "rasslin" in the other room.

Best wishes for the new fellow. We'd love to see a post in the Introduction thread, and don't forget if you are having any issues, we have the Behaviour Thread as well. I know everyone will want to welcome your new addition!

[Maddii]

Thanks both x, His name is 'Jasper' my daughter is a Twilight fanatic . Shan is accepting him a little more today and has started wagging her tail so there is hope on the horizon . I even had 6 hours sleep last night! I'll post on the intro thread now now

[Deerie me]

6 hours sleep with a new puppy!

Congrats on getting him. I had a poodle years ago who had a small umbilical hernia. It never caused her any problems.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

I saw your Intro thread and it's wonderful. I enjoyed all of the pictures and video.

We're glad you've joined us. 6 hours of sleep in a row with a puppy is rather good. I'm looking forward to hearing all about Jasper's progress.

[jacknyc]

Maddi I wanted to tell you that your new baby is absolutely adorable! I have one cavie named Jack, however wish I had the time and space to have more. They are such wonderful dogs! I am also sorry about the loss of your cat. Jack's best friend is my cat Penny. They play and sleep together and I know how devastated we would both be if something happened to her.

If you are going to breed, please please check out Deb's forum on syringomyelia/chiari malformation. My cavie Jack also has this disease and it is heartbreaking. My breeder had all her stock heart ,eye , patella and hip checked/certified, but didn't do the MRI's to rule out syringomyelia in her dogs. The web site cavalierhealth.org has breeding protocols for all the major cavie issues. In the meantime, enjoy your older baby and your new baby; before long the two will become life long friends
Warmest regards,
Irene

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Irene, it is so lovely to have you posting in other threads. If only we knew then what we know now. Thank you for highlighting that. It's a message everyone needs to hear with many toy breeds, not just Cavaliers.

I'll check on Jack in the other thread. I hope he's doing well.

[Phyrie]

I saw on TV the other day that they have identified the gene (chromosome?) that causes CM. If that's true, we are much closer to avoiding, and then eliminating, this foul condition.

And, just FYI, since the thread is about Cavs, Cavs snore. They snore and they sleep with their eyes at half mast, so you think they are snoring on purpose. They are also most annoyed when you wake them up to tell them they are snoring. They don't care that sleeping with your eyes open is "creepy". They are indifferent to my level of "creep" while sleeping. They also think you are nuts when you tell them to "Knock it off!!" when all they are doing is laying there, sleeping with their eyes open and snoring.

Oh, and they kick in their sleep, too. It's not comforting to be booted in the butt by a Cav sleeping at your side on the couch.

Just sayin'...

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

LOL Phyrie! I totally concur with the half-open eyed sleeping...it is creepy! I also enjoyed a good chuckle at the other things you mentioned with which I am entirely too familiar


Mary sent me a link to the new discoveries regarding CM and SM. It is posted in the SM/CM thread. I'm not sure I understand it all fully just yet, but I know it's terrific news and a giant step forward.

[Phyrie]

Oh, SNAP! Deb, that's probably where I saw it too! I'm sorry not to give credit where due. I watch so much informational TV, I guess I just ASS-umed that's where I had heard it.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Phyrie, you are funny darling. I didn't think for a minute that you had not seen this on TV. I just wondered if you had seen the post by Mary so I wanted to point it out. SNAP you too....you startled me

[ajawad]

Hello, I've just been so confused. There are so many people saying this and that. Right now I have my dog on fromms. I had him on Orijen, but people kept telling me its not good for a cavalier puppy. However fromms is giving him gas. So I want to give him Acana, now I hear grain-free food for puppies cause overgrowth. My cavalier is 5 months. So is anyone giving their cavs either orijen or acana and can tell me the good or bad things about it.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Your puppy should be on a "Puppy Formula" of whatever food you choose.

I feed my Cavaliers "Wellness Super 5 Mix". I think that comes in a puppy formula as well. I would read the ingredients on a food such as that, or one similar and find the puppy formula, which they should be on for the first year!

If what you are feeding is giving your puppy excessive gas, you may wish to switch. However, I would also caution against switching too often as that is very hard on a pup's tummy. What did your Breeder suggest you feed? I stuck with the food from Oliver's Breeder for the first several years of his life, which at the time was a medium rated food. Once he became ill and started gaining a lot of weight, I then searched for a better quality food, and he is on the adult "light" formula of that food.

Please go to our "Health Section" as there are many different types of discussions on feeding in there. Two of our members with Cavaliers feed nothing but Raw, that they do themselves. There is a thread on that in the Health Section called something like "I met a Pig's Foot today". I'm paraphrasing.

Avoid any food that has "meat by products", "grains", "corn meal"....you wish to look for foods that list MEAT as the first ingredient and only certain whole grains. Orijen is considered one of the top foods in the world and is made here in Canada, but some people are now saying that it's a little too high in protein.

Many of us have used http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com to look at the various feeds available, but I've recently been told that site may be slightly out of date. However, it will give you a broad overview and rate the various foods to give you an idea of side by side comparisons.

Good luck!

[rachelleb]

Hello,
I'm new to the site so please excuse me (and/or direct me) if there's a more appropriate forum. My dad's dog, Ollie (pictured) has been showing signs of Syringomyelia for about a year. I've only just learned of the disease and the fact that it's common to the breed. Ollie went to the vet a few months ago and was diagnosed with some sort of disc issue, which is apparently a common misdiagnosis.
Anyway, I have been able to find a lot of information online about SM in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, but haven't been able to find any estimates on the cost of diagnosing/managing this disease, and was wondering if anyone on this forum has had any experience with it? Thanks!

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

I'm sorry I missed your post yesterday. We do have a section specifically devoted to that, which I started several years ago. It's long, but it's very active. It is in the Health Section, and we would love to have you join us in there. Here is a link that will take you directly to the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1867