Cavalier King Charles MVD

Whenever possible, beat your vet out of a bona fide fee. Why should we have vets standing by to help our pets when we can use a breeder for shots, or get the opinion of a dog trainer in lieu of qualified veterinarian care? Buy medications on line from PetMed and whenever possible, trade with the professional with the lowest fees. They're the best.

=END EDITORIAL=

Mitral Valve Disease Kills more Cavs than any other breed. It's believed to be a genetic defect which can start young, but pets may live a short life, or they may linger into their teens. Early detection and palliative care are imperative. Avoidance of overweight conditions and superb dental care are important. Early detection by competent veterinary cardiologists is especially important for breeders who should remove these from their programs.

Despite what is known, a great deal of CRAP is being written and read on the Internet about MVD and someone, this author, finally put the myths out with a well written, well considered article.

She writes:

I have been reading the posts of the last 24 hours with much

interest, frustration, and discouragement. I have quite

intentionally waited to respond, but I can no longer keep

silent.

Anyone who has been in this breed for any length of time

knows that mitral valve disease in Cavaliers is a very

serious problem. Cavaliers have 20 times the incidence of

MVD as the next closest breed. The age of onset seems to be

getting younger and younger. Some of the dogs live with

their disease quite well (my beloved Alfred is an example of

this), and others die of this disease at a completely

unacceptable early age. Conscientious breeders have been

repeatedly frustrated in their attempts to prevent this.

Thank goodness, the CKCSC,USA decided to become involved in

a research project with Dr James Buchanan at the Univ of PA

vet school. He, together with Dr Andrew Beardow, began the

first heart clinics held in conjunction with our shows.

Over the years, these clinics have expanded from just the

northeast portion of the US to now being held at least 2

times a year by each of the 4 regional clubs. The Canadian

Cavalier Club also is involved with a research project and

Pat Barrington has told you much about their program. And

of course, the UK Cavalier Club also has a research program

as well as Sweden. The Cavalier world is a very small one

and we are all working together and trying to share as much

information as possible.

Dr Buchanan has reported back to the Club several times over

the years. In May, the Club organized and sponsored an

International Heart Symposium in Atlanta in conjunction with

our National Specialty. It is a shame that you were not

able to be present as it was an extraordinary event. There

have been 3 major studies done on mitral valve disease in

Cavaliers; one in the UK, ours in the US and one in Sweden.

Representatives of all three of these studies were present

and spoke as well as Dr Keene from N Carolina State Vet

School who is conducting a study on drugs and MVD. I know

that the transcript of the entire symposium is in the

process of being prepared and will be made available for

sale when it is ready. The summation was prepared directly

from the tapes and is not the "memory" or "interpretation"

of its author. To the best of my knowledge, no one who

attended the symposium has questioned the accuracy of her

summary.

Several other members of the Lists have already addressed

some of your statements and I will try not to repeat too

much. You need to understand that the statements that many

of us make are NOT our own opinions; we are reporting what

the cardiologists/geneticist in the various heart study

research projects have told us.

You have challenged the Club's protocol of auscultation by

board-certified cardiologists. This was not a capricious

decision made by breeder/members. It was made on the advice

of several of the cardiologists involved in the various

studies. The quality of small animal practice vets ranges

from outstanding to pitiful, if not downright unethical. In

an attempt to work from a level playing field, the decision

was made to recommend that all auscultation be done by a

board certified cardiologist. Auscultation was made the

diagnostic method of choice, again based on the

recommendations of the cardiologists doing our heart study

research. In order to encourage our membership to use this

protocol, the regional clubs sponsor frequent heart clinics,

some free, the others usually costing $15-20 per dog. We

are encouraging our pet owners to also participate in this

program, as sibling information is very important when

dealing with a polygenic trait. Copies of all the

examinations and the pedigree of the dog examined go to Dr

Buchanan to aid in his research. You mentioned "free

dopplers" provided by the Club. This is simply not

financially feasible, but the Club did have them available

at one show for $20 per dog.

In the very beginning of the research program, I think that

Cavalier owners and breeders believed that through research,

we would identify the genes involved in MVD and then "breed

them out". We now know that the best way to solve this

serious problem is to attempt to raise the age of onset to a

high enough age that the dogs will probably die of something

else. A protocol has been recommended that is believed to

help us do this. It will be very hard for most breeders to

follow unless they are willing to make some major

sacrifices, and most will only sacrifice so far. But we can

hope that little by little, the breeders will come closer

and closer to following the protocol, and will within 3-5

yrs, be following it completely.

Ethical breeders will tell their puppy buyers what testing

they do and provide them with written documentation of it.

They will stress to their puppy buyers that these are NOT

guarantees, as at this time, we have no means of

establishing the genetic makeup of the dogs tested. It is a

good first step as we do know that dogs that themselves

manifest luxating patellas, hip dysplasia, MVD and several

other problems are far more likely to pass these diseases on

to their progeny than those who do not manifest the

diseases, even if they carry the genes for them. We know

this has worked with hip dysplasia as the OFA can show an

improvement over the past 20 years. I know of no respected

breeders who are telling their puppy buyers that if the

parents of their puppy are clear at age 2, then the puppy

will never develop MVD. Anyone who has told you this has

probably completely misunderstood what the breeder said. As

a matter of fact, many breeders tell their puppy buyers that

statistically the chances are that their Cavalier WILL at

sometime in its life develop MVD, and that is correct

(statistics provided by the various heart studies.).

You mention early spay/neuter as a possible cause of early

onset MVD. I don't think anyone - breeders, pet owners,

cardiologists doing research -want to reject any possible

theory out of hand, but the participants of the symposium

pointed out that diet, the environment, vaccinations (early

spay/neuter was not mentioned specifically but would be the

same), are pretty much the same for ALL breeds of dogs, yet

it is Cavaliers who have this dramatically greater incidence

of MVD. If it was caused by these things, we would see a

rise in other breeds as well and this just isn't so. The

standard age recommended by most veterinary schools is 5-7

months of age, regardless of breed. In addition, even

earlier spay/neuter done at 8-12 wks of age, has been being

done for 20 years with no adverse effect on the dogs

involved. Again, why would only Cavaliers have this cause

them problems? You have said:

"Breeders inform us their dogs are living longer...yet they

are not castrated, while the dogs sold for housepets are

neutered early and not living as long."

I don't know which breeders have been "informing" you of

this, but it just plain isn't so. We know that some lines

seem to produce dogs that have greater longevity than some

others, but this has been the same for both un-neutered

animals and pets from the same lines.

You have also said that "Grade 1 murmurs are usually 'flow

murmurs'" and this just isn't so. Much of the time, they

are the first indication of trouble to come. If they are

found in dogs that are breeding stock, the breeder is

advised to follow up with a doppler examination before doing

anything as drastic as spaying/neutering. If the doppler is

still inconclusive, they are advised to wait 6 months and

re-examine.

With the exception of one list member, Leanne Bertani, none

of us is a medical doctor. We are breeders, pet owners and

prospective puppy buyers. Many of the breeders and pet

owners on this List have spent many years reading everything

about MVD in Cavaliers that has been written, attending the

symposium and the other meetings where our heart study

project was reported on by the cardiologists involved. We

may not have medical backgrounds, but we are very well

informed about this subject. And of course, we know what

has happened to our own dogs.

No one wants to pick on you, nor do any of us question your

medical knowledge in your own field. But it is very hard

for us to sit here and read message after message telling us

that we know little or nothing about this subject, and that

we are going about this whole subject in the wrong way. We

are trying to digest everything we are told by the

cardiologists who ARE experts, and as we are not medically

trained, we must put our trust in the people who have the

most experience with and knowledge of this subject, namely

the researchers involved. None of us thinks we "know it

all" - we are ALL still learning and most of us are trying

very hard to to implement the information given to us by the

various heart study researchers. We can do no more.

--

Suzanne R Brown

THATCHCOTE Cavaliers

Louisville, KY and Fryeburg, ME