I am pleased to share this story with you as I am a
person who does not like to part with her older Cavaliers. I am proud of two
bitches that I have let go to new homes for the role they have both played as
companions caring for elderly ladies.
The first, Lucy was returned to me at the age of 7
because the owner was not able to care for her due to a change in personal
circumstances. A lovely lady named Joan telephoned looking for an older
Cavalier. It sounded like the perfect home, she had always had dogs, and she
lived next door to her daughter and family. Her grand-daughter wanted her to
have a dog that she could walk. The grand-daughter was asthmatic so could not
have a dog of her own, but she could walk a dog in the open air without
suffering. Joan was in her late 70's and had recently recovered from having
both hips replaced. She was ready to get out walking again. She needed a good
reason to do so and a dog was the perfect reason to her.
Joan came with her grand-daughter to meet Lucy. They
took to each other immediately. We accepted a donation to rescue and Lucy went
off happily with Joan and her grand-daughter in their car. I received regular
phone calls to let me know how Lucy was doing and how everyone around loved
her. Photos came in the post at regular intervals too. One day Joan telephoned
and I asked her how she was getting on with her new hips. She explained to me
that she had been out walking with Lucy across the common land near her home
and her leg went from underneath her; she fell and could not get up. Lucy was
not on her lead but stayed with Joan and kept barking at passers-by until
someone realised there was a problem and came to help. Joan was sure she would
have lain there for a very long time if Lucy had not been there to raise the
alarm. Lucy is 13 years old now and still looking after Joan. The photograph we
received this Christmas shows Lucy looking wonderful with barely a grey hair in
sight.
 I have no regrets in letting Lucy go to Joan, it is a
match made in heaven. Lucy finally passed away in 2006 aged almost 14. The last
photo we have is Lucy sitting on Joan's daughter's chair in her office at the
National Trust Property where she works. Lucy went to work with Joan's daughter
when Joan had to go into hospital for some further treatment. She was from the
first litter I bred and she qualified for Crufts at six months of age. She was
beautiful but first and foremost she was a pet, part of the family and very
healthy.
Pictured right Lovely Lucy aged 13
The second is Bracken. Kath rang me seeking a young
adult Cavalier. We chatted for a while and I found out that she had owned dogs
all her life. She explained that she felt very lonely without a dog having
recently lost one. She had a heart condition and her doctor advised she should
walk every day to help her heart. She did not feel like walking alone, this
made her miss her dog even more. She was eighty years old, mentally very sharp
and capable. Her daughter called in to see her most days and if there was ever
a problem walking a dog her grand-daughter would come twice a day to walk the
dog. If Kath needed to go into hospital her daughter would have the dog, so
there was plenty of good back-up.
Her criteria initially was for a bitch around 1 - 2
years old. There were not have any available on the puppy list register of that
age at the time. I had an 8 year old bitch that I would not be showing or
breeding from again. One of our younger bitches had suddenly taken to dislike
her. We knew they could not both stay together. I suggested Bracken to Kath
because I knew she would be steady and happy to be an only one. Initially Kath
said Bracken was too old, she wanted one that would last a while. I felt there
were plenty of years left in Bracken. I suggested that I could take Bracken to
meet her in her home. She could then decide
We took Bracken over to meet Kath, her daughter and
son-in-law. Bracken walked in, straight over to Kath and sat by her feet. Kath
was delighted and they just seemed so right together. Bracken went to live with
Kath a few days later in a village about 8 miles from us. We felt comfortable
that, if necessary, we could get to her quickly and bring her home. Kath took
Bracken everywhere with her, even to the doctors surgery when she went for her
check-up. The doctor was very pleased that Kath had Bracken and would do her
much needed walking. About a year later Kath was very poorly. Her
grand-daughter came over to walk Bracken every day. To start with Bracken
refused to leave Kath's bedside. As Kath recovered, Bracken would go out with
the grand-daughter, but would just stop dead, turn around to head back home
when she had been out long enough. She knew she had to look after Kath and be
there for her.
Bracken came back to stay with us when Kath went away
for two weeks to visit family. Kath had been poorly again, Bracken had put on
50% of her normal body weight because she flatly refused to leave Kath's side,
so did not get any exercise. We took nearly 3 pounds off her with extra
exercise and less food in the two weeks. Bracken had a grade 1 heart murmur. I
explained that the extra weight was bad for Bracken. Kath could not stop
apologising. She rang me six weeks later to tell me that Bracken had been to
the vets to be weighed and was now back at 18 pounds. She was so pleased that
she had managed to slim Bracken down again. Bracken was almost 12 still looking
after Kath. They took slower shorter walks together, just more of them. Kath
said to me last time she rang, that she cannot imagine life without Bracken.
She hoped that she would pass on before Bracken as she could not contemplate
life without her.
In August 2007 Kath passed away whilst sitting in her
armchair at home. Her son-in -law called in to see her in the morning and found
her there with Bracken sitting in the chair alongside her. He took Bracken back
home with him with the intention of keeping her for the rest of her days.
In October he rang to say that they were having
problems keeping Bracken because she and their other dog did not get on. Kath
had told them that they should contact us if they needed help. We immediately
agreed to take Bracken back to live with us. It is what we do with all our
dogs, if the owners cannot keep them they come back to us. She moved back in
and has settled down with us. She did have about five pounds of excess weight
and was on heart medication when she came back.
We took the extra weight off her and agreed with our
vet that, as the heart murmur was not so bad, we would wean her off the
medication. She is absolutely fine without any medication and has been off it
for ten months. She will be fourteen years old next month. Her mother and
paternal grandmother both lived to 14.5 years of age and neither was on any
heart medication. No hint of any Syringomyelia symptoms either. Honey,
Bracken's mother finally died of a rare skin cancer and old age. Betsy, her
paternal grandmother died the following year from Cushings disease. Her father
died aged 12 of old age, his kidneys etc failed, he stopped eating and he
decided it was his time to go.
It is a difficult decision to let dogs go and to older
people, but sometimes it is just right to do and I am so pleased I did.
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Bracken at age 13yrs 10mths. |
Worried about paying for medication?
Cavaliers can live full lives, even if they start a
heart murmur at, say, 6 years of age or older. The key to extending their lives
is keeping them trim, exercise, and giving the medication to them at the right
time. Too early and their bodies become used to it and when it is really needed
at the time the murmur goes to heart failure status, it is less effective.
We have a male that went into heart failure because he
had blood poisoning and he has been on medication ever since. That was five
years ago. He is 13.5 years old now and still chasing the girls if he gets a
chance. He is neutered so it is wishful thinking on his part!
If the cost of heart medication is worrying to you,
there is the option of asking your vet to provide you with the prescription.
You can then purchase the medication over the Internet at significantly cheaper
prices in some instances. You will at least save on the mark-up applied by the
vets for dispensing the medication. Your vet may not be too happy to lose that
income, but your Cavalier comes first!
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