Becky - Barb's post was so truthful. MVD is something you just have to
accept (for now anyhow until things get much better in some future decade) if
you want to own Cavaliers. If you find you can't accept this, you are
probably better off getting another breed of dog. MVD can also be somewhat
expensive to treat medically.
My beloved little tricolor girl, Willowrun Kai, was diagnosed with a
murmur at a very early age (less than a year; then again at 2 yrs). It
stayed mild for several more years, and didn't really get awful until she was
about 8 yrs. old. With help from some wonderful vets, we managed to keep her
with us -- with an EXCELLENT quality of life -- until she was 10-1/2. We
spent a few weeks agonizing over when the "DECISION" had to be made -- we
didn't want her to suffer but we didn't want to hasten that trip across the
Bridge unnecessarily. One morning, she just gave up to cardiac failure...the
day before she had been really better than she had in many days prior. I
cried for weeks and weeks. I also spent time deciding if I could go through
this again . Obviously (since I now have 3 Cavaliers) I chose to accept MVD
as a distinct possibility since I cannot imagine living without a Cavalier
....or two or three or four .... in my life.
Pamela -- your post was really beautiful. You are probably right
about setting yourself up for "buckets of tears". This was my fear when we
got Callie and then the next year Paisley. I also didn't want to be running
a geriatric "old doggies home". We were going to wait a year or two before
bringing in our next dog...but then 7-1/2 yr. old Zephyr became part of our
family, so we now have an age spread.
Actually, my biggest fear is that I won't have a dog -- when Kai died
I promised myself I would NEVER be without a Cavalier again -- so I got the
"heir and a spare" and then another for additional backup. But each is
precious to us.
Lynn Beman
Amherst NY
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