Ellen
I can only give you my opinion for what it is worth.
A bitch - I would not mate whatever her age if she had a murmur basically
because of the stress of the pregnancy and whelping.
A dog - I would use if he was late onset - anything over seven I personally
consider late onset. If older than that when a murmur developed so much the
better definitely I would use him but I would want the murmur to be no more
than 1-2 at most.
I think also having any information about dogs in the pedigree is an
advantage - not necessarily the heart status (because that may not be known)
but the age at which they died.
Annette
----- Original Message -----
From: "elllen poti" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 12:13 PM
Subject: [CKCS-L] breeding and MVD
Hypothetical question,
Really, this is not about any particular situation, just want some
thoughts. A cavalier tests heart clear via cardiologist auscultation at age
5. Obviously we all agree it is OK to breed this cavalier per the
guidelines. What would you do if when you test the dog when it is 6 or 7and
it has a Grade 3 or 4 murmur , per auscultation? Would you stop breeding
that cavalier? Would it make a difference if it were a male or female?
Why?
I think we are all seeing different forms of the MVD, with the dogs
that test clear for years and boom - they are gone in 6 months - to the dogs
that test with murmurs from an early age that never progresses and they live
a fairly normal lifespan. Would it be OK for a dog with a murmur to breed,
but not a bitch because of the prolonged stress and load on her heart of a
pregnancy? What have any of you ever done in this situation? Obviously, I
would get a second opinion and move up to ultrasound/doppler - but what if
that opinion concurred? Would you stop using that dog even though the
guidelines say heart clear after 2.5 years with 5 years being ideal? Is
anyone out there doing research to try to differentiate these different
outcomes with MVD?
Some of you who have been on this list with me from the beginning know
our experiences with cardiology testing and our opinion that it is somewhat
subjective and very frustrating to base breeding decisions on, when the
cardiologists in the same practice don't even agree. I think we all try to
use common sense and experience, but this question of breeding an older dog
with a known murmur is curious to me because of the increased reports of
clear cavaliers who are diagnosed with a murmur and are dead within a year
or two. Do we need to factor this into our decisions? Everybody talks
about looking for lines with long-lived dogs. Are those long-lived dogs
living long with a mild murmur? If so, who cares? I wouldn't throw out
testing, but I will never throw out a great dog again because of it.
thoughts?.....
Would love to hear from the experienced, long term cavalier breeders.
Ellen Poti
Avia Cavaliers
Ohio,USA
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