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Cedar in Kansas

Moviedust

Well-known member
About a month ago, I purchased my first Cavalier. I'm new to the breed, and so I'm learning about our tri-color female (Cedar) as she grows. I am very happy to have discovered a forum on the breed; I hope I can find all sorts of info and advice from the more experienced owners.
 
Welcome! I also have a tri, 3-yr old Abbey. You'll learn a lot on this board, it's a great resource!

Love the name Cedar!
 
Thanks! It seems like I hear more bad news about health problems that the breed suffers, and I have been in a constant state of fear that Cedar is doomed. :( A little reassurance would go a long way, so I'm hoping to find some hope here!
 
Oh no, don't feel that way! The breed isn't doomed, but they do require a diligent, proactive owner. The Health and Diet section and the SM forum of this site are very good areas to start reading up on. I don't feel they have more issues than any other breed, but the ones they do have are a bit more rare. Again, nothing that can't be managed by staying on top of things and informing your vet. A good way to do so is to print out the information here, especially on SM, and make a file for your vet. This is what I've done, as well as a lot of other members.
You're doing the right thing already, you've joined this board and will now be informed on anything and everything related to Cavaliers!
 
Thanks for the reassurance. I'm also suffering from guilt. You see, I *thought* I was working with a reputable breeder, but I discovered after the fact that Cedar's breeder was anything but. :S So now I'm concerned that Cedar's health is questionable.

Cedar's temperament is wonderful, and we are all head over heals in love with her. So as you can imagine, I'm wracked with worry that she'll suffer and we will lose her. And she's only 3 months old!!

I'm a worry-wart. :(
 
Don't worry, enjoy her and just stay on top of things. If you're stressed and worried she'll pick up on it and you'll end up with a very nervous dog. Just have fun with her and love her! Post pictures of her, too! :)
 
Welcome to the board and welcome to little Cedar too - love the name btw :D

Try not to worry about the health problems in the breed, as Jen, says they just need a diligent proactive owner & you very obviously adore the little angel.

Now this is going to sound really silly but some of the strongest healthiest dogs come from the worst breeders believe it or not. I know that plenty don't but if you've had Cedar a while and you've taken her to be checked over then hopefully you will be lucky :)

My friend has two puppy farm bitches that she rescued and the one of them is so healthy it's unreal. She is a real darling too and adores to be picked up and cuddled just like most other Cavaliers do :D She is quite old and has had lots of litters and obviously a terrible life before she was whisked away to her heaven on earth, now she is just like any other cavalier :D

I even had to pick her up and physically move her out of the way so I could vacuum where she was laying - she just gave me this 'get lost, I was here first' look :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
icon_welcome and we're happy to have you here. Don;t feel guilty -- a lot of cavalier owners think they are being careful when getting a dog and find that unscrupulous people, who are getting very good at the tricks that make them SOUND like they are decent breeders, are actually the source of their puppy. It doesn't mean she will give you any less pleasure but does mean you should keep on top of the various *possible* health issues as purebred dogs that are bred indiscriminately do tend to have a higher rate of problems. But not always, and many will never have any major issues at all.

The main one to watch out for is MVD but also increasingly, SM.

Cavaliers actually have very few breed-related ailments compared to most purebreds; unfortunately some of the ones they do have are quite serious. How you care for your cavalier can make a big diifference with the onset of MVD though -- keeping her slim, and keeping teeth clean (as gingivitis is actually linked directly to heart disease!) for example, and feeding a good quality diet. With SM, only a tiny fraction of dogs have serious symptoms though it appears most cavaliers do get some form of the condition (it isn't a disease but a condition caused by a skull malformation).

There's lots of information here, and expertise among the board members, so stick around and fee free to ask questions! Also, we will want some pics of Cedar in the puppy gallery so we can enjoy her too! :)
 
Welcome and don't worry!! Yes, there are serious health issues but like everyone is saying...if you stay on top of their health you have a much better chance of having a long lived pup. We've been through patella surgery, cancer (a total fluke!) and now a soft murmur. But, we've gotten through it all and I wouldn't trade my two babies for anything in the world. There are so many encouraging stories about cavaliers living very long lives so I try not to worry and just enjoy the heck out of them! They are such a special breed.
 
Thank you all for the encouraging and warm welcome. We were gone for the weekend visiting my parents, so I havent been able to post sooner. (Cedar loves going to visit them. They call her their grandpup, and my 16 yr old brother cant get enough of her!)

I will try to figure out how to post photos here. It may take some tinkering.

I took Cedar to the vet when we first got her. This is when the major concerns about the breeder developed. She had a nasty case of mites in one ear, hernias, and weak knees! We treated the mites immediately, and our vet said that the hernias, if they do not fix themselves as she grows, can be repaired when she is fixed. The knees, I'm afraid, are what we will have to watch. Our vet says it is hard to say at this point if they will be a problem; so we will just watch. Our vet encouraged us to communicate these problems with the breeder, and so we did. However, the breeder turned into a crazed woman, threatening lawyers and demanding the return of the puppy. We werent about the return the dog to her. So now I just hope Cedar has suffered the worst. I know she's better off with us at least!

I'm so glad to have found a place to communicate with other cavalier owners; I have never known anyone else with a cav, so having someone to talk to releases a great deal of stress. Thank you!!
 
Oh, I'm so sorry the woman you got your precious Cedar from has not been supportive. :(

Glad to hear that Cedar's mites are cleared up. Rory has a small umbilical hernia that has never been a problem. It was closed at 10 weeks - meaning it's just a little fat pocket that's closed off from his abdomen so you can't push it back through. This also means no intestines or other things can come out! Which is the main concern w/ hernias.

I hope her knees firm up. Cathy can talk to you about slipping patellas - she had surgery on her dog, Shelby's knees.

Welcome to the board!!
 
Hi there,

Cedar is absolutely beautiful .... I have to say one of the cutest little tris I've ever seen .... I think that by your account of the breeder, Cedar is lucky to be with you..... Looking forward to seeing loads of pics of her growing up .....
 
Oh Moviedust, that is just horrible you were treated that way by Cedar’s breeder!! She is so adorable. icon_heartthrob

I will keep you in my thoughts and hope everything will turn out well with Cedar – I am so angry and heartbroken every time I hear all these stories about “bad” breeders. icon_crying
 
Me too :( People shouldn't breed unless they want to make a lifelong commitment to that puppy.

I just do not understand how anyone could want to breed dogs for the money. It seems that the only ones who make money from breeding are the bad breeders or, in the case of a good breeder the Vets.

If I was ever lucky enough to have another Cavalier and had a litter I wouldn't want to see any of them go & would end up keeping one or more of them :lol:
 
It just kills me to hear those kinds of stories about breeders, tends to give everyone a bad name. That breeder should have welcomed the input on a puppy she bred.

As for the umbilical hernia, they are quite common with this breed. What we have always heard is to just keep gently pushing it back in every chance you get when she's on your lap. We always have done that with ours and it has never become an issue.

To try to cut down on the incidence of umbilical hernias, we clamp off the cord as soon as the puppy is delivered and are very careful not to put any pull on it. Same thing when we tie off the cord, no pressure. We never let the mom chew off the cord. If we do have one with a hernia, we work on it the whole time the puppy is with us, pushing it in. Maybe its just luck, but we have very few umbilical hernias now.

Bruce
MysticKnight Cavaliers
 
Thank you, all, for the support concerning Cedar's breeder. After we sent her the proof of Cedar's first vet visit (and communicated the vet's concerns) per our contract, and after she got defensive and threatening, she sent us the AKC registration forms. From what I understood per the contract, she wouldnt send those forms until after the puppy had been fixed. She obviously wanted to be rid of us as soon as possible, and didnt want to communicate with us again.

Cedar seems to be doing fine. Her ears are cleaned up, though I suspect one of her ears will be susceptible to infection for a while. She is growing fine and seems ot be happy-go-lucky. Despite the concerns for her genetic health, her personality is terrific. She thinks everyone is her personal playmate. And she's always disappointed when our resident rabbits (3 or 4 that live under our back deck) run away instead of playing with her. If she could, I'm sure she'd yell, "hey, guys! Come back! I want to play, too!!"
 
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