H L B
Posted : 10/22/2007 2:39:59 PM
You are so right! We have 2 CKCS - Lucie and Bentley. We researched our breeders ( one found on the AKC website and the other from the CKCS Club website). We spoke by phone a number of times, looked at pictures of the puppies, and then traveled from VA to Maryland for Lucie and from VA to South Carolina for Bentley. Both came with healh certifications and pedigree information.
This summer, we took both of our beloved dogs to VA Tech to be examined by a Board Certified Cardiologist (no real reason to do this, just trying to be responsible Cav owners). We were sad to learn that both have heart murmurs. Bentley (only 1 year old) has the early signs of mitral valve disease, and Lucie has a stage 2 murmur.
At this point, we hope that the disease will progress very slowly in both of our dogs. We hope the have them to love for a very long time, but we are also realist.
We feel that we did our homework. You can never be too careful. They are a wonderful breed, but be prepared for their health issues.