Minature Cavaliers ???

[MurphysMummy]

I was out the other day and came across a cavalier which I thought was a puppy, around 6 mnths old. I then spoke to the lady who told me she was 4! She honestly was as small as a 6 month old cav puppy. She was so tiny. she was tri colour but had very little black spots all over her legs.
Ive heard of minature cavaliers but never seen one before, Just wondering if anyone else has seen or heard of these "minature cavaliers" ??? She was very cute but I wonder about health problems as they are very small.

[Mindysmom]

I ran into one about a year ago. I think she was from a pet store (therefore puppy farm). Max was probably triple her size (he's a bigger Cav). I didn't think she looked very healthy but she may have been just fine.

[mommytoClaire]

Oh heavens, I hope they aren't breeding specifically to create miniature's! There are enough problems with Cavaliers without adding that to the mix!

I will tell you, many think my Claire is still a pup because she is pretty tiny boned and weighs about 11 lbs. I was told (this was a rescue situation) that her brother was quite a bit larger than her, so I think she was just a small 'pup'. Our Vet predicted she would weigh between 10-12 lbs at full grown, and she was correct. She said she was in good shape, just smaller boned and asked us to keep her 'slim' (my Vet's practice has quite a few Cavaliers, at least one with SM, and they are the ones that told me about SM and some of the lesser know things like low platelet counts).

It does seem that many of the Cav's here in the US weigh less than many over in the UK. I don't know why that is, perhaps someone with more history would know.

I just hope that they are NOT breeding to make miniatures...........

[Pat]

I posted this thread some months ago about what I call "Cavalier/Rat crosses." I own one!

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/s...er-Rat-Crosses

Since Lissie came off the street, I have no history or any idea of her breeding. I suspect she is a puppy mill/pet store Cavalier, and I think as someone said in the thread above that commercial/backyard breeders likely keep these weedy Cavaliers to breed because of the craze for "purse" dogs. This is certainly not a Cavalier that I would have sought out - it was just fate that she came to me as a foster and she stayed.

Lissie was at the vet's office for a wellness check. She has gained about one pound in the year that I've had her - from 8.7 lbs to 9.7 lbs now. She is somewhere between 2 and 4 years old, but she looks like a puppy because of her size and lack of coat. The good news at checkup is that she is heart clear and there has been absolutely no hint of any SM symptoms. Her blood chemistry was good. She has slight LP in both knees - about a grade 1 - and will likely never need surgery. I have insurance on her and on Tucker - have never made a claim and I wish I had put the premium into a savings account instead.

Pat

[RodRussell]

...Lissie was at the vet's office for a wellness check. She has gained about one pound in the year that I've had her - from 8.7 lbs to 9.7 lbs now. She is somewhere between 2 and 4 years old, but she looks like a puppy because of her size and lack of coat. The good news at checkup is that she is heart clear and there has been absolutely no hint of any SM symptoms. Her blood chemistry was good. She has slight LP in both knees - about a grade 1 - and will likely never need surgery. I have insurance on her and on Tucker - have never made a claim and I wish I had put the premium into a savings account instead.

Pat

Leave it to you to be the contrarian, Pat. Do you run a hedge fund on the side?

[Erin2854]

My cavalier is quiet little, everyone thinks she is a puppy (she is 2) and is about 11lbs. All the cavaliers we run into are much bigger than she is. Her sibblings are quite a bit larger than her, she was just the littlest one in the litter. She came from a fantastic breeder, she was not bred specifically to be small. She is perfect though. Gorgeous coat, very healthy ( thouroughly scanned by a cardiologist with no heart problems and no signs of SM at this point) nice and lean. She is just a small boned little gal!

[whittakeramy]

i know this is slightly off subject but i got mimi weighed at the begining of march for her wormer and she was 7.3 kgs which is little over 16lbs but when she went in yesterday they said they weighed her but she was still the same weight. At 10 months shouldnt she still be growing in the 2 months between weigh-ins??

[ByFloSin]

Victoria was a cute little tricolour in a litter of six from my Angus and Emma. It was a repeat mating, the second of four litters from the same pair.

All the pups in her litter were of normal weight at birth but Victoria stayed small, growing much more slowly than the others. Her finished weight was just 12 lbs. There was nothing wrong with her, she was just petite.

She lived to a healthy 13 yrs 6 mths. She would have lived longer, but for a series of strokes or fits, which I now think were SM convulsions.