Gina

We that is me (Bobby, and John helps) try to keep the blog as light hearted as we can even though our fostering some times causes heart ache.

But never have we been so upset and annoyed over unscrupulous
breeders who keep on breeding dogs with this genetic problem.
This programme was on TV.

The programme shows a prize-winning Cavalier King Charles spaniel suffering from syringomyelia, a condition which occurs when a dog's skull is too small for its brain.
Syringomyelia is a disorder caused by a congenital malformation of the occipital bone of the skull. In essence, the skull is too small for the brain. This causes the higher pressure in the brain, which causes the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow to be "backed up" and not flow well. This causes hydrocephalus which is enlargement and dilation of the ventricles of the brain. It also causes the cerebellum to be pushed out the foramen magnum (the hole in the skull through which the spinal cord comes off the brain) which is referred to as herniation of the cerebellum. Eventually, the pressure build up causes fluid filled pockets called syrinxes to form within the spinal cord. This damages the nerves of the spinal cord which causes the symptoms.

We could only watch a little then turned it off, but with poor gorgeous Gina we
got to see first hand how awful this condition really is.

Gina 6 years old her mum is very ill so Gina came to us for re-homing , after 24 hours we saw the first bad fit starting after the howls lasting for three hours then the walking in circles and falling over her heart was beating so fast , trying to calm and comfort
her had no effect.

After speaking to her vet we discovered that it had gone on for a long time and it
had been discussed several times about putting little Gina to sleep.
Obviously her mum was hoping for a miraculous cure for her beloved companion
and was finding it very hard to make the final decision. The lady had spent thousands
of pounds at the vets to try to get Gina well nothing could be done..

Gina had more attacks after this, so we decided the kindest thing would be to make the
decision her mum  could not. and we found it very hard she was such a sweet girl. It was very upsetting and is hard to stop thinking about her. It is bad enough a healthy dog becomes ill but this poor girl and probably the rest of the litter were bred like this, and lots more are being bred.
Where is the love for dogs or the care for the people who buy a pup. Mostly the breeder will know the dog will have this condition and it will show as the dog grows as early as late puppy hood .

We have looked on the net and we can not believe the reported amount of breeders who
out of greed keep on breeding dogs with Syringomyelia as its genetic its passed
to the pups.

We are doing this to plead with anyone who is going to buy a puppy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to check fully the breeders past litters and their vets. Speak to people who have got older Cavaliers who have not had problems, please do some research, or these breeders will keep breeding very sick dogs.
If you do not you could end up with such a vet bill and still the heart ache of putting to
sleep your beloved dog at an early age, there is no cure for this terrible condition
and to watch it is heart breaking..

A good healthy dog can have a life span up to about 15 years a lot to 17.
The King Charles is a good companion easy to live with dog so a lot are bought
as companions by ladies only to get their hearts broken watching their pets health
deteriorate. I can not stress this point hard enough please check your breeder out
otherwise the pain and suffering you will see is heart destroying.
If you know good breeders let me know.
If you know bad ones let me know.
It seems Sweden has the most stringent of tests for breeding .

Lynne Pawzforthought Director Said

It has to be said

We at pawz try hard to keep our animal stories light and happy (even though the truth about the background of some of them would make you weep, we found out a long time ago that it’s better to be positive than dwell on dark things and thoughts. However a much loved blog has not been blogged for some time because its author has found it hard to move on after looking after a sweet thing called Gina for a short while.

Gina’ s previous owner was not cruel to her she loved her so much that in fact it must have been one of the contributing things that broke her heart (literally) when she found that her beloved little girl was developing a cruel debilitating condition that there is no cure for. We cannot imagine how sad it would have been for her to watch her beloved Gina deteriorate. Gina broke our hearts and we only knew her for two short weeks till we made the decision her owner could not and ended her suffering.

There is an anger in us that needs to vent. What are we angry about? And who are we angry with?

Dog Breeders unscrupulous greedy ignorant breeders that don’t give one thought about the heartache and the illness (in the owners of the unfortunate animals) they cause let alone the huge financial costs of trying to treat, relieve or correct the deformities and defects they create while trying to turn a profit on the wretched animals that they breed .

I will not go into Gina’s particular defect as john already has but Gina’s defect is just one of so many in so many different breeds people still go on purchasing these animals Paying these people encouraging them to carry on doing what they do because its profitable

Not all breeders are bad the world needs puppies, but to buy from internet cites , men in white vans that arrange to meet you in lay bys or deliver to your door, people who say things like “this is the father” when there is no mother to be seen (and people fall for that one? ) people who don’t let you see the conditions your new pup was born into, people who will sell their animals into totally wrong environments and homes, people where the only criteria is show me the colour of your money and I will give this soul to you to do with what you will, and even breeders that breed winning best of breed at crufts, breeding dogs that they know carry defects that they will pass on!. We despair! we know that we will continue to try and pick up the pieces, but beg you all to warn and warn loudly to anyone thinking of buying a pup from anywhere to research ,research, research, and in the end to go with their gut instinct on whether they are buying from a decent source and to tell them, they are not helping to “rescue” the animal by buying from these people and companies they are causing the very problem by their own actions of buying from these sources they are perpetuating and compounding the problems .

If you know good breeders let me know, so people can have a pet that does not break thier heart.