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Cavalier rescue having seizures what to do

Nicki said:
I agree with you totally Karlin, having lived through this myself with several dogs now, it would not be fair to expect someone to take on a dog with such a serious condition without explaining fully what it meant, and it's hard enough to find good homes anyway. Cavaliers are so endearing and affectionate that you very quickly fall in love with them, and then you have the heartbreak as well as the financial cost to deal with.


If the dog is severely affected then he needs urgent treatment and if the funding is not available then it's not fair to keep him in life and suffering.
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This is the elephant in the room right now.

Over 50% of young cavaliers being scanned through the low cost schemes have SM.

They may not have symptoms at the time they are scanned, but no one can know whether they will stay so lucky, or whether they will develop mild symptoms that can be well controlled or whether they will have agonising pain episodes that will eventually prove too expensive to medicate or too distressing for both owner and dog.

What happens to those dogs that scan badly?

If breeders keep them, those under 2.5 years should not be bred from. Whatever the scale of the breeding activities, that will leave a good many non-productive 'passengers' taking up space & costing money to feed. And of course for those severely affected, there is the cost of medication.

What has happened in the past is that dogs that have finished being bred are usually re-homed as pets. Some breeders have already placed affected cavaliers in pet homes, explaining about SM, although there may have been a temptation to minimise just how much they could still deteriorate.

Some breeders are now selling or giving the dogs they know or believe are affected to unsuspecting owners. There are still dogs being given away with "ear infections" or because they can't be shown as "they don't like wearing a collar"

Some owners are putting them into rescue. I was warning three years ago that cavalier rescue organisations need to have a policy on SM.

I know of one rescue dog, whose owner believes the symptoms were there at the start. The dog is in pain but not getting the treatment she needs because her loving but hard up owners cannot afford to take her to a neurologist. Nor do they seem able to face up to the fact that her quality of life is pretty dreadful.

The situation is not going to change, it is not going to get better. Even if every breeder started to do the right thing and breed to all guidelines, SM affected dogs will continue to be with us for many years.

What is going to happen to them? How many pet owners here would take on a cavalier that has already been diagnosed with SM?

How many think it is right to be sold or given a SM cavalier without being told the full facts of the dog's condition and how drastically SM can progress?
 
I think this has several different points to bring up but as far as breeders contributing to rescue, then we need to look further into the background.
 
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Two points:

Margaret, I agree with you, and this is a good discussion subject. I have some personal experience from both points of view. I worked many years in breed rescue (at one point was national rescue co-chair and then was regional rescue chair - many years back). On the other hand, all 12 of my Cavaliers were "rescues" in that I purchased none of them and all of them were adults (anywhere from 1 year old to 14 years old) when they came to live with me. Some were true rescues (picked up off the street) and others were well-bred dogs placed in my home by their breeders or show/owners or turned in to rescue by previous owners. I have adopted dogs with unknown problems and with known problems. I took a 14 year old that I knew had cancer (which could have been easily cured with timely surgery) and spent many thousands of dollars on the surgery and related testing, etc. Sadly, he already had mets when I got him that were not detected on ultrasound, so the effort was too late. My point is that I knew the situation when I took him on, and I did it because he was bred by a dear friend who was no longer available to take him back. So I stepped in to take her place out of friendship. I also adopted a Cavalier with eye problems that I did not know about which cost many thousands. And there were many that I adopted with known MVD and minor eye problems. Despite this history of adopting dogs with "special needs," would I knowingly adopt a dog with SM? The answer is "no."

I have always strongly believed that rescue must thoroughly evaluate dogs and place them with full disclosure. This also means that we must have rescue coordinators at the higher level who are very aware of Cavalier health problems and have access to specialists for consults, etc. I fought many a battle for approval for funds to do more than a cursory exam. I spent my own money and used my own specialist contacts who worked with me with free and reduced cost evaluations and treatment. I do not believe that every dog can be saved and re-homed and I am not opposed to euthanasia when appropriate. I am absolutely opposed to placing dogs that have not been fully evaluated into the homes of unsuspecting pet owners, particularly those new to the breed. As Margaret explained, the new reality of SM makes this subject much more complex. I was only dealing with illnesses such as MVD, eye problems, hips, knees, etc., and even then it was difficult.

Second point – It is absolutely inappropriate to be discussing this particular case and naming names on a public forum! This is third party reporting at its worst; and these folks need to figure out what to do without blow by blow reporting and commentary in a group where they are not even members! Moderators, please step in here. Discussing the topic in general is fine. I would be extremely angry were I one of the rescue coordinators involved and my ongoing case was being analyzed in a public forum.

Pat - Atlanta, GA
 
Thank you very much, Anne. I know that you have good intentions. I've just been in the position of rescue coordinator and I know that there can be sensitive issues.

Again, the topic in general is a good one. How does rescue deal with an increase of dogs with serious and expensive health problems? Will there be more and more pet owners who purchase puppies (from many sources) on a whim without doing the proper research, and, if those dogs become symptomatic with SM, will they turn them over to rescue or abandon them in shelters (only to be adopted by more unsuspecting new owners)? This is a very serious problem, and I would assume that the breed rescue groups are putting policies and procedures into place. Is the goal to rescue a greater number of dogs at a minimum cost per dog or is the goal to take fewer into rescue but thoroughly assess them and place them with full disclosure knowing that the placement will likely be for the lifetime of the dog? This is likely more of a problem in the US since Cavaliers are increasing in popularity quickly but there is less knowledge about the breed in the general pet owning and the general veterinary population.


Pat B. - Atlanta, GA
 
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