Colby

Pets and Animals

By minsmash on September 21, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

(05/08/99 – 21/08/11)

As mentioned in my introductory post on Chelsea, we used to have another Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  His name was Colby and he was black and tan.  Colby lived just past his 12th birthday.  He passed away at home on a Sunday evening on 21 August 2011.  It was very hard for all of us, but at the same time we were happy that he passed at home, surrounded by his family.

Most breeds seem to have one thing or other that is a potential health threat.  With the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, it is a disease called Mitral Valve Disease (MVD).

MVD is a degeneration of the heart’s mitral valve, one of four sets of valves in a dog’s heart. As the mitral valve degenerates, the valve no longer fully closes after each pumping action, allowing some blood to flow backwards through them from the ventricle back into the atrium. As the condition worsens, more and more blood is able to backflow through the valve. In the final stages, the valve’s struts sometimes break, causing the valve to collapse completely. MVD results in congestive heart failure.

Colby was diagnosed with MVD at the age of 9.  Medications kept him quite well and happy up until the last couple of days.

Colby was 9 weeks old when we collected him from the breeder.  His pedigree name was Cavtown Midnight Sky.  Colby had an overbite, which meant his nose was longer than the usual  breed standard and his top and bottom teeth didnt all meet.  Luckily for Colby it didnt affect his ability to eat, though he was a very slow eater.  We always had to separate him from Chelsea at meal times because she is a ferocious eater and very bossy and if not separated, she would eat hers and then push Colby away and eat his (and he let her)!

Colby was a very quiet, gentle and placid dog.  We will always miss him, but we are very grateful that we had 12 wonderful years with him.

I hope you enjoy the gallery of pictures of him below, some with Chelsea.  I may add more at a later date.

With Chelsea at the beach

Categories: Pets and Animals

Tagged as: #cavalierkingcharlesspaniels, #dogs, #pet, #pets