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American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, Inc. Health Survey 2004-2005

Rosewoodsteel

Well-known member
I found an interesting 2004-2005 health survey / report regarding CKCS health. My apologies if this has been previously posted or discussed on the forum. Below, are some items gleaned from the study. (Please click on the link to view it in its entirety.)
American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, Inc. Health Survey 2004-2005
American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, Inc. & Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine Section of Clinical Epidemiology Dr. Larry Glickman, Head Dr. Malathi Raghavan Dr. Nita Glickman
(Usable questionnaires were received for 566 CKCSs from 313 owners)

Three Most Important Health Related Disorders-Owner-Ranking versus Survey Results (Page 169):

Owners’ primary concern- (Death, Disease or condition ranking of importance / occurrence):
1) Heart disease- 76% 2) Syringomyelia- 16% 3) Cancer- 1.6%

Actual Cause of Death Survey Results Heart failure- 54.4 %; Cancer- 23.5%; Kidney failure- 5.9%

The three most important health related disorders (lifetime Risk):
Mitral valve disease- 1 in 2; Heart murmur- 1 in 2; Gingivitis- 1 in 3.

Based on veterinary-confirmed causes of disease only

IV. Final comments of Health Survey Report (Page 199):


Compared with other breeds we have studied, the state of health of CKCS appears to be fairly robust. The average age of death in this study was 10.7 years and no single disease seemed to cause death at an exceptionally early age. However, cardiovascular disorders, especially mitral valve disease, affected over 80% of the CKCSs. Eye, ear and nose & mouth, disorders also affected a relatively high proportion of CKCSs. Musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and reproductive disorders, however were relatively uncommon. Syringomyelia, a concern among owners, affected about 4% of the CKCSs.

The complete survey can be found at:
http://ackcsc.org/images/stories/pd_files/ckcshealthsurveyfinalreport.pdf
 
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I wonder what a similar report would say if it covered 2014-2015? CM/SM, for example, doesn't directly kill as kidney disease does, but if there was a question 'How many dogs have been put to sleep because CM/SM pain became uncontrollable?' the answer might be interesting! Our English Kennel Club came up with the same 4% CM/SM figure; my personal figure out of 5 Cavaliers, all but one from show stock, is that 60% (3 out of 5) had CM/SM, and a slightly different three died from MVD aged 7, 8 and 10. What these reports don't take into account is that the majority of Cavaliers are pets whose owners never hear about these surveys, so the results are skewed from the start. The Cavalier Health.org site lists the ailments that Cavaliers are prone to, some of them, like PSOM, unique to the breed and a lot of them hereditary; these include MVD, CM/SM, luxating patellas, pancreatitis, myoclonus, epilepsy, kidney failure, degenerative myelopathy, deafness, breathing problems, vestibular episodes and a lot more I have missed out. I don't think I would say that healthwise Cavaliers are 'fairly robust'! :bang:

Kate and Ruby
 
I have to say, I was too upset over Thistle's death to be aware when this questionnaire was out to make sure she was on it. And I suspect many have this problem. The questionnaire is very specific that it must be in the last calendar year, so anything earlier (even if unreported) just gets sept under the carpet.

So, take these survey results with a grain of salt, I don't think they are representative of the actual health of cavaliers.
 
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