Updates for Alfie and Beasley

Alfie and Beasley are Blottie and Bumbles brothers from Smudge and Henry's litter born earlier this year. I got this sweet photo from Joan and Colin of Alfie having his first car ride wearing his doggy seat belt. 

Alfie wearing his dog seatbelt

"Alfie's first trip to town wearing his new car seat belt. Looking quite relaxed. He had many admiring smiles."

Thanks Joan and Colin, he looks very chilled out.



Beasley is settling in really well with Myfanwy and Will. Myfanwy asks me a few questions and also has a problem with one of Beasley's eyes called Cherry eye, which I have heard of and also seen, but have never experienced it with any of our own dogs, so I have published along with her email, my full reply to her email and references a very good article on the internet about Cherry Eye.

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Beasley

"Hi there Jane, 

Hope all's well with you all. I just wanted to give you a little update on Beasley. He seems to have felt right at home and very content over the past few weeks.  And he just had his first 'walkies' on the weekend after his last vaccine. He's taking to the lead very well and is socialising great with all the other dogs around our village... and all the neighbours who've fallen in love with him! 

The vets were really impressed with his cross-breed and temperament - I knew you were on to something! They'd never seen this mix. He's grown quite long and he grows more handsome every day! He brings a smile to everyone's face:) 


I wonder whether he might be teething as he wants to bite and chew a lot. We've got plenty of toys to try and interest him. He's had pretty much 100% attention from us since day 1. He does sleep on his own now fine. He's very energetic and I see much of Henry in him which is great; like when he holds his nose up to the sky taking in all the Somerset scents. 

The only problem we've had is one of his eyes bulges up a bit, which the VET explained is 'cherry eye'. But he said it will hopefully settle down in time. It's happened a few times, presumably when he got some dirt in his eye from playing around in the garden,  but normally it goes down within the day. Have your cavaliers had 'cherry eye'?

I've been waiting for a sunny day to go somewhere scenic and take some more photos of us all together, but I've attached  some so far.  Also, here's a link to the first time he learnt SIT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLl8gXuY5VI&feature=youtu.be 
He learned very fast : )

RE food;  The vet in Bath suggested feeding 'Pro Plan'. I see it has a lot of added minerals for brain and skeletal development. But it has a lot of extra cereals.  I just wanted to ask; what do you think of it?  Another local vet  suggests Royal Canine (vet version). Do you rate it? For now I've stuck to Arden Grange, which seems to have less added cereals and more meat. I'm guessing that Vets try to push a certain brand as they might have deals with the companies.

When it comes to worming and fleas, our Vet in Bath recommends using Milbemax + Stronghold, while other local vets recommend Advocate. I'm trying to do some research, but there's so much mixed opinion on the internet. Just wondered if you have any thoughts on those?  He's booked in for the next dose on 3rd Aug. 

Thanks again for bringing him into the world. So glad I found you!! 

Best wishes, 
Myfanwy x"

"Hello Myfanwy,

good to here that Beasley is settling in so well. The Cherry eye thing I have heard of, but I have not ever had a Cavalier with it. Cherry eye is quite common in Cocker spaniels. I found this article about Cherry eye that might be of interest to you Information about cherry eye in Cocker Spaniel dogs Hopefully the eyelid should become tighter as Beasley grows and the condition should right itself.

Both the dry dog foods you mention are flogged by vets, you will pay a premium for them, when buying from a vet. I would try and avoid dog foods with high cereal content. I also use Burns complete dry food and find the dogs do well on it. Milbemax is a good all round one dose wormer. Stronghold is a good pour on that I use a couple times a year, as it does your dog for heart worm and I suspect is why your vet is using it on Beasley. Stronghold is a prescriptive pour on unlike Frontline, but Frontline does not do heart worm, but does kill ticks, which Stronghold does not do. Advocate is one of the more stronger chemically of the pour on treatments and I have heard of dogs having skin reactions to Advocate. Advocate is a prescriptive pour on as well.

Hope this helps and thanks for the lovely photos.

Kind regards

Jane x"