Chad came into our lives in March 2001 when he was 10 months old. I'd searched for quite a while to find the right person to buy him from. I knew about the Mitral Valve Disease that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have in their breed so I was on my guard. I was put in touch with a local breeder and when I phoned her she said that she had a dog who was 10 months old, house trained and in perfect health! She said we could buy him from her because he had flecks of pink in his tiny black nose and this was affecting him winning in the shows. She said his heart was healthy and there were no problems. She advised us to go and see him so that we could see if he liked us!! When we arrived we were met with this gorgeous bundle of black, white and tan fur with the most cutest face and big soppy eyes. He was beautiful. He came to each of us, sniffed us out and then fell asleep on my knee. All three of us instantly fell in love with him. We went home and decided we'd love him to come and stay with us as part of our family. A few days later Chad was brought to our house. After a few days of being upset and frightened he soon realised that this new place of residence was going to be great. After all I was feeding him with steak!!
I took him to the vet for a check up and everything was perfect! I got the usual flea treatment (because Chad had been scratching a little) and worming tablets from him and treated him when we got home. We noticed that Chad would sometimes yelp out as if something had hurt him. I checked his paws because I thought something maybe trapped in between his pads but nothing was there. Over the next few months we noticed that Chad scratched himself more and more and also this yelping out suddenly was beginning to worry me! I knew he couldn't have fleas because he had been treated. I took him to another vet and she said it sounded like a habit. We did notice that he scratched more when he was excited so this seemed a logical diagnosis. As time went by we noticed that sometimes he'd yelp out and at times he was obsessed with this "itch". Something wasn't right! Weeks went by and this itch was still there so I booked him in to see yet another vet. This vet did some skin scrapings from his ear so that he could tell if he had mange mites. This test came back clear. He then wanted to put Chad under an anaesthetic and do biopsies and some blood tests. I was so worried! I didn't want Chad having to be put through the risks of an anaesthetic.
Every time Chad got excited, say for example when we were taking him for a walk or playing with him, his back leg would start to scratch his neck or sometimes just thin air. Every time we tickled his ears the same thing would happen. Yet when we touched his back legs he didn't itch. This seemed to me like he was very sensitive around the neck and ear areas. Meanwhile I got talking to a couple of friends who had a cavalier themselves and they told us of a brilliant vet and gave us his number. We took Chad to see him.
The new vet listened to our story and looked at Chad. He told us all the possibilities but agreed with us that it would be silly at this stage to put Chad under anaesthetic to do tests. He told us about allergies and that the breed is prone to them. He said we had to try a special diet for 6 weeks to rule out food allergy. He said if this didn't work then it looks as though it could be "a weird one". This weird one was called Syringohydromyelia (an Arnold Chiari type malformation) which he knew to be in the breed. He said it was to do with the brain being further back than it should be and that it causes a fluid build up in the region at the base of the brain/top of the spinal cord. This build up presses on the nerves in that area and makes the neck area very sensitive.
We went home and started Chad on this new diet (to which he hated). Meanwhile I searched on the internet for more information on this weird illness. I found "holly's" page and read the cases of other Cavaliers. I knew that this was what Chad had. I was devastated. After 6 weeks of his new diet, Chad was no better. Back to the vet we went and Chad was referred to a dermatologist.
On 13th September 2002 we saw the dermatologist. She asked us lots of questions and looked at all treatments that Chad had been given. She saw him scratch and how he responded to ear tickling. It wasn't an allergy. She nodded her head and said that Chad had Arnold Chiari. This was a day where we was upset that Chad had this dreadful condition but we were also happy that he didn't have it bad enough to have surgery. The specialist said that because Chad was tolerating his itch very well and that he had no damage to his limbs or any other symptoms, that the risk of brain surgery was unnecessary for him. In other words as long as he's happy then we shouldn't put him through major surgery. Chad since tried diuretics but they didn't help at all. Since September 2002 chad bravely plodded on and shared another wonderful Christmas with us. Over the next few months we noticed that Chad was becoming more sensitive and he cried alot. We knew he was in pain. His big yelping attacks were becoming more and more frequent. We took him to the vet. He was given metacam and amitriptyline tablets to help calm him. His pain was still there. The amitriptyline helped keep him calm but didn't stop his pain. It got to a point where he used to go outside (even in the rain) and slam his head into the floor and lie down because the cold floor helped ease it. I used to get frozen peas wrapped in a cloth and he lay his head on it on my lap. It was no good. We took him back to the vets. He was given steroids. the vet began to discuss the possibility of having Chad put to sleep. The surgery wasn't an option as it would put Chad through alot of pain and may not even work! Chad already had damaged nerves. We were heartbroken and started him on steroids. I knew I was going to lose my baby as the steroids themselves would cause other problems eventually. The steroids didn't work. Chad was panting all the time and he became listless and still got his pain. The vet doubled his dose as a last chance for him. The next 3 weeks crucified us as we had to watch our lively lad pant all the time and he could hardly climb the stairs. If I tried to pick him up he yelped in pain. He got so bad we couldn't cuddle him or it caused him pain. We had to make a decision that would torture us but would be the best for Chad. Finally on Tuesday 27th May 2003 (3 days before his 3rd birthday) We phoned the vet up. Chad passed away peacefully across my lap and cradled in my arms with my husband on one side and son on the other cuddling him. We are heartbroken. He was so brave and he is our hero. We know that Chad is now well and happy in spirit and we'll all be with him again one day.

In Chads name we ask "Please, breeders....do not breed your cavaliers until they have reached at least 2 years old and have not shown signs of scratching, pain, yelping, weakness in limbs etc"