Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a healthy, sturdy little breed with a few well-documented inherited risks. Screening the parents before every litter, and monitoring them afterwards, lowers the odds and pushes the age of onset later. This page explains the conditions, what we test, and how you can check for yourself.
Mitral valve disease (MVD)
The mitral valve sits between two chambers on the left side of the heart. In MVD the valve degenerates and lets blood leak backwards; the first sign is usually a murmur heard through a stethoscope. The breed clubs consider it the number one health concern in Cavaliers, and it tends to appear earlier in this breed than in others. Screening is an annual heart exam, ideally by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist, registered with the OFA.
Syringomyelia and Chiari-like malformation
Chiari-like malformation is a skull shape that leaves too little room at the back of the head; syringomyelia is a fluid-filled pocket that can then form inside the spinal cord. The most common signs are neck or shoulder scratching, often “air scratching” on a lead, and sensitivity around the head and neck. The only way to confirm it is an MRI under anaesthesia, so breeders rely on family history and careful observation rather than a routine test.
Eye conditions
Cavaliers are not prone to many eye diseases that cause progressive vision loss, but the breed does see juvenile cataracts, retinal dysplasia (folds that often resolve by one year), corneal dystrophy and distichiasis. A board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist examines the eyes, and the certification is valid for twelve months, so it is repeated annually.
Hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is an abnormally formed hip joint that leads to arthritis over time. It is far more common in large breeds; in Cavaliers signs usually appear only in older or severely affected dogs. Screening is an X-ray at two years or older, graded by the OFA; Excellent, Good and Fair are all passing grades.
Patellar luxation
The patella, or kneecap, can slip out of its groove when the knee bends. It is common in toy breeds and is graded from 0 (normal) to 4; mild cases often need nothing more than a lean body weight and sensible exercise. Screening is a hands-on exam by a veterinarian, registered with the OFA.
Episodic falling and dry eye/curly coat syndrome
These two are different: each is caused by a single recessive gene, and a DNA cheek-swab test shows whether a dog is clear, a carrier or affected. Episodic falling is muscle stiffening and collapse triggered by exercise or excitement; dry eye/curly coat syndrome is a congenital condition of the eyes, skin and coat. A puppy can only be affected if both parents carry the gene, so testing the parents prevents it entirely.
What we test
Our breeding dogs are OFA-screened before being bred, and we keep monitoring them afterwards. Rusty, our stud, additionally carries clear DNA results for degenerative myelopathy and episodic falling. Jessie James, the sire of our next litter, has OFA results for heart, eyes and patellas; he has not had a hip evaluation, and we say so rather than imply one. Our numbers are printed on this site, not available on request. Every OFA certificate number for every dog in our program is on the Our Boys and Our Girls pages, and every one can be checked by you at ofa.org in under a minute. We think a breeder who asks you to take health testing on trust has misunderstood what health testing is for. Where a dog has not had a test, we say so on that dog’s page rather than leaving a gap for you to fill in.
You can check OFA results yourself. Go to ofa.org, choose Advanced Search, and enter the dog’s registered name or registration number. The listing shows each test, the date, and the result. Ask us for the registered names of the parents of your litter.
What the pedigrees show behind our dogs
A dog’s own OFA record is what matters most, and ours are published on each dog’s page with their certificate numbers. But a pedigree carries evaluations too. AKC prints them directly on the certified pedigree, in a shorthand most buyers have never been taught to read, and most breeders never mention. We think you should see ours.
How to read the codes. OFA is a hip evaluation and OFEL is an elbow evaluation. The number is the dog’s age in months when it was evaluated, and the letter is the grade: E excellent, G good, F fair. So OFA26G reads as hips evaluated at 26 months, graded Good.
Behind Jessie James, sire of the October 2026 litter:
Cochran’s Gunvald, his sire. OFA26G: hips Good at 26 months. AKC TS34463101.
Sir Winston of Countrycharm. OFA27E OFEL27: hips Excellent, elbows normal, at 27 months. AKC TS09066001.
Cochran’s Prince Harry. OFA45G: hips Good at 45 months. AKC TS14431603.
Cochran’s Toblerone. OFA65G: hips Good at 65 months. AKC TS03497302.
Cochran’s DWTS Derek. OFA62F: hips Fair at 62 months. AKC TS07679901.
Minks Lady Margaret Mia of Greenview. OFA36F OFEL36: hips Fair, elbows normal, at 36 months. AKC TR89021505.
Mink’s Diamond Rose of Sweetie. OFA40F OFEL40: hips Fair, elbows normal, at 40 months. AKC TR86027307.
Behind Chocolate Latte, dam of the litter:
Mink’s One of a Kind Cooter. OFA41G OFEL41: hips Good, elbows normal, at 41 months. AKC TR84361101.
Mink’s Jazzie Rosebud of Cooter. OFA62G OFEL62: hips Good, elbows normal, at 62 months. AKC TR99731704.
Blacky Special Edition of Haysville. OFA46F OFEL46: hips Fair, elbows normal, at 46 months. AKC TS01164701.
What this tells you, and what it does not. Ten evaluated ancestors across the two lines, including one graded Excellent and five graded Good, is real evidence about the structure behind this litter. It is not a substitute for a hip evaluation on the parents themselves, and we will not present it as one: neither Latte nor Jessie James has had hips radiographed yet. Our dogs are seen regularly for wellness care and vaccinations, and OFA screening runs on a rolling schedule through each dog’s life; where a result is not listed yet, that test is simply not yet due in that dog’s cycle.
Every code above is printed on the AKC Certified Pedigree for that parent, compiled from official Stud Book records: Latte’s on 27 March 2025 and Jessie James’s on 21 July 2025.
Published pedigree and OFA health records
Ask us
Health questions are the best questions a puppy buyer can ask. Email marilyn@greenacresnextgen.com or call 503-837-7111; we answer every one personally.
Sources for the breed facts above: OFA cardiac database (https://ofa.org/diseases/other-diseases/cardiac-disease/), OFA eye certification (https://ofa.org/diseases/eye-certification/), OFA hip dysplasia (https://ofa.org/diseases/hip-dysplasia/), OFA patellar luxation (https://ofa.org/diseases/patellar-luxation/), OFA Episodic Falling Syndrome (https://ofa.org/episodic-falling-syndrome/), OFA Advanced Search (https://ofa.org/advanced-search/); ACKCSC Hearts, SM, Eyes, Hips, Patellas and CHIC pages (https://ackcsc.org/health/hearts/, /health/sm/, /health/eyes/, /health/hips/, /health/patellas/, /health/chic-arch/) and the ACKCSC Parent Club Health Statement (https://cdn.akc.org/Marketplace/Health-Statement/Cavalier-King-Charles-Spaniel.pdf); CKCSC-USA Health Testing Guidelines, Inherited Health Problems, Heart, Syringomyelia and Episodic Falling pages (https://ckcsc.org/testing-guide, https://ckcsc.org/inherited-health-problems-ckcs, https://ckcsc.org/heart, https://ckcsc.org/syringomyelia, https://ckcsc.org/episodic-falling).