What health problems do Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have?

Which health problems matter most in a Cavalier?

Two stand out. Heart valve disease is the number one health concern in the breed, and our Cavalier shedding and lifespan guide explains what that means for the heart. Among problems of the brain and spine, a mismatch in the shape of the skull and the spinal cord condition that can follow it, syringomyelia, are the most common in the breed.

The rest of this page takes syringomyelia first, then the eyes, knees, hips and ears that breeders also watch.

What is syringomyelia in Cavaliers?

Syringomyelia is a pocket of fluid that forms inside the spinal cord and damages it over time. Pain is the most important sign. It has been found in many toy breeds, among them the Shih Tzu and the Miniature and Toy Poodle as well as the Cavalier.

In Cavaliers it's closely tied to the shape of the skull. At the back of the skull, the space for the lower brain is too small, and part of the brain is pushed down into the opening to the spine. That can block the flow of the fluid that cushions the brain and spinal cord, and many dogs with that skull shape go on to develop syringomyelia. In one large study, nearly every Cavalier scanned had the skull shape at its most marked, while far fewer had syringomyelia.

What are the signs of syringomyelia?

The most common is a sensitive neck that gives the dog an urge to scratch at its neck and shoulders, often in the air without touching, sometimes while it walks. A dog may also show pain around the neck, ears and shoulders, and over time weakness in the legs, poor balance or clumsiness.

Many affected Cavaliers show no signs at all, which is why a breeder can't check for it just by watching the dogs. If your dog scratches at the air or seems sore around the neck, call your vet. Mild to moderate cases are usually treated first with anti-inflammatory medicine, and surgery to relieve the pressure is kept for severe cases, where scar tissue can bring the signs back.

How common is syringomyelia, and how is it found?

Common enough that breeders in some countries scan for it. Studies have found it in 39 to 46 percent of Cavaliers, and it gets worse with age. One study found it in about a fifth of Cavaliers up to a year old, rising to 70 percent by the age of six.

The only way to see it is an MRI scan, which is painless but needs the dog asleep under anesthesia and is costly. Breeders in the Netherlands and Denmark have scanned their Cavaliers for years, and over that time the share affected eased from 38 to 27 percent. Pairing a mama and papa that were both affected roughly tripled the odds of an affected puppy, so the researchers recommend scanning every Cavalier at three years or older and keeping affected dogs out of breeding.

In the United States an MRI isn't one of the basic health checks for the breed, which the last section of this page sets out.

What eye problems do Cavaliers get?

Cavaliers aren't prone to many serious inherited eye problems that steal sight over time. The ones to know are cataracts, which in Cavaliers can appear before six months of age and then quickly lead to blindness, and extra eyelashes along the lid that can irritate the eye.

Cavalier puppies also often have small folds in the back of the eye that usually disappear by a year old, and some get cloudy spots on the front of the eye. A breeding dog should have its first eye exam at 8 to 12 weeks, another at a year, then yearly exams until five and every other year until nine.

What about the knees and hips?

The knee problem is a slipping kneecap, where the kneecap slides out of its groove as the knee bends. The kind that slips inward is the one most often seen in toy breeds, and it should be treated as inherited unless an injury caused it. The usual sign is a skipping step, where the dog lifts a back leg for a few strides and then carries on normally.

It's graded from 0, which is normal, to 4, and grades 3 and 4 usually need surgery. Most Cavaliers with it have mild signs that are managed with gentle exercise, less jumping and a lean body.

Hip problems are more often a large-breed worry, though they can happen in a small dog like the Cavalier. They're found by X-ray, and keeping a dog's weight down eases the strain on its hips.

What is glue ear in Cavaliers?

It's a problem of the middle ear that seems to affect Cavaliers in particular. The name comes from the thick mucus that fills the middle ear.

Some dogs show no signs. When signs do appear, they include hearing loss, a head tilt, an unsteady walk, head shaking and scratching at the neck, and the usual treatment is flushing the affected ear. Neck scratching shows up with syringomyelia too, so let your vet sort out which one is behind it.

What health checks should Cavalier parents have?

Every Cavalier used for breeding should have its hips X-rayed, its eyes examined by a veterinary eye specialist, its kneecaps checked, and its heart examined by a cardiologist every year. A certificate shows that a check was done and what it found, so read the result rather than treating any certificate as a stamp of approval.

We are working toward health testing all of our mamas and papas, and the certificates we have are posted on each parent's page. So far the ones for our Cavalier mamas cover eye, heart and kneecap exams. Cost and color have a guide of their own, our Cavalier price and colors guide, and when you're ready, the Cavaliers we have now are listed on the breed page, and the puppy application is the first step.