Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Food and Health
There are quite a few things to keep in mind when it comes to Cavalier Spaniels health. Most health experts recommend that you prepare your dog’s diet at home made up of raw meat and fruits and vegetables whenever possible. However, that means understanding all of the different nutrients that need to go into your dog’s diet and this can be less than pragmatic. If you do not prepare your dog’s diet at home, then at least keep in mind that you should not be feeding your spaniel dry dog food like high protein grain dog food . With some dogs, as long as the dog food is selected carefully, you can do fine with dry dog food like health natural dry dog food, but because of the carbohydrates, you need to avoid it with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
So, you want to go with biologically appropriate, frozen, canned or freeze-dried food. There are a lot of great brands out there that you can rely on for the type of food that your dog needs and most of what goes into it should be high-quality, human-grade real meat products with fruits and vegetables. Meat should always be the first ingredient in your dog’s food, and they should be getting some of their food from fat as well. There should never be fillers like grain, wheat, or corn in your dog’s food like grain-free canned dog food. You also want to find out exactly how many calories you should be feeding your spaniel based upon age, gender, size, and activity level.
One of the problems that can occur if you give your dog too many calories is obesity. This is especially important for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. They are predisposed to obesity according to research done in 1986 and confirmed as recently as 2013. Of course, you can combat this to a large degree by avoiding feeding your dog carbohydrates of any sort. Experts believe that carbohydrates are not required by pets like they are with humans, and as long as you give them enough calories of non-carbohydrate dog food then it is unlikely that their health will suffer.
There are a few health conditions that you should be concerned with when it comes to Cavaliers including mitral valve disease which can cause heart failure, hip dysplasia, luxating patellas and some potential hearing disorders and vision problems.
Since Cavaliers are genetically predisposed towards so many illnesses, it is a really good idea to have pet insurance. Pet insurance protects your pet by providing them with the health plan that can make certain that they are taken care of if they do get sick. With pet insurance, you may not have to pay out-of-pocket for your pet’s veterinary bills, but instead pay a co-pay or a discounted amount like you would with your human health plan. For a breed like the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel this can be a major benefit because the chances of them getting sick and needing surgery, medication or regular veterinary visits are a lot higher then with most of the breeds out there.