Over 40% of Cavaliers Pass Between 7 – 9 Years of Age
- Admin
- Dec 29, 2017
- 2 min read
Recently, I conducted a non-scientific survey of current and former owners of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels to better understand the current state of the beloved breed. My Cav, Trisha, passed away just shy of her 8th birthday. In the year leading up to her passing, I read story after story on Cavalier Facebook groups about peoples’ pups dying around 8 years of age. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach especially considering Trisha suffered from MVD and SM. Sadly, she passed of stomach cancer within a week of her diagnosis.
Just how long do Cavaliers live? How do their lifespans compare with the average age of small breed dogs (under 20 pounds), which is 11 accordingly to Petmd.com?
Cavalier Age Distribution of Survey Respondents
There was a wide age distribution among the Cavaliers of the 78 survey respondents. (See below)
When I filtered the results for dogs not currently alive (17 dogs), the age distribution ranged from 7 years to over 15 years. Sadly, the survey indicates that there are way too many Cavs passing early. (See below)
The Average Lifespan of Cavaliers is Short
41% of Cavaliers passed between 7 – 9 years of age. This statistic is crushing but not very surprising. What’s causing Cavaliers to die well before their golden years and below 11 years of age (the average lifespan of small dogs)? MVD seems to be the major culprit according to the survey results. Well over 30% of the dogs who passed away had MVD and/or Congestive Heart Failure (likely caused by MVD). Cancer represented another 12%. SM doesn’t appear to significantly contribute to a shortened lifespan. (See below)
Responsible Breeding Holds the Key to Longer Life-Spans!
Let’s change this dynamic! Responsible, ethical breeding of Cavaliers is the key. Please read more about responsible breeding practices in the following post:
Subscribe to TrishasDiary.org to learn more and contribute to the conversation about the well-being of Cavaliers.
