Rescue is all of it…all at once.It’s celebrating brand new life as tiny puppies enter the world with everything ahead of them…It’s grieving the loss of life as we gently walk hospice dogs home…It’s opening our arms and hearts to the ones just beginning again - stepping into a life they’ve never known…And it’s the bittersweet ache of letting go - tearfully saying goodbye as our dogs embark on their next chapter with their furever families… Joy and heartbreak.Beginnings and endings.Holding on and letting go.All of it exists together here.All of it is Cavalier Rescue 💜And with that said, we welcome our newest girl, Francesca as she steps into a beautiful new beginning 🐾 Franny comes to us as a transfer from another rescue who recognized they were unable to meet her needs, and we’re grateful they trusted us to take the next steps for her. We will be carefully assessing and addressing those needs and will have much more to share about her soon. Franny is being fostered in Birmingham, Alabama where she will have access to our full team of medical specialists 💕

UPDATE APRIL 17, 2026: Rescue always starts with a bath 🛁 and in little Franny’s case, it’s a medicated bath as she arrived with her skin red, scabby, scaly, and in need over some extra care and relief. This is just the beginning as we work to bring her to her best health and best self 💕Franny came to us with records stating that she is 6 years old, but we think that is pretty far off as we suspect that she may be quite a bit older. She will soon be seeing our ophthalmologist who can help us more accurately estimate her age. We will also be sharing her full medical update soon as we just got her final labs in. Franny is being lovingly cared for in her foster home in Birmingham, Alabama 💜

UPDATE APRIL 19, 2026: We recently introduced you to darling little Franny who we welcomed into our care last week. She came to us as a transfer in from another rescue organization who recognized that they were unable to meet her needs. 
Little 12 pound Franny has undergone her full intake vetting and we have quite a bit going on to tackle…
- badly infected ears 
- poor, scabby, scaly skin 
- severe dental disease
- intestinal parasites 
- no tear production / completely dry eyes
- secondary pigmentary keratitis causing significant vision loss 
- secondary eye infections
- chronic cough from unknown origin 
- arthritis / spinal stenosis 
The records we received say that Franny is 6 years old but we think that may be pretty far off and suspect she is quite a bit older. She will be seeing our ophthalmologist on Tuesday afternoon and she should be able to shed more light on an approximate age. Although Franny’s only been in our care for 6 days, she is responding so very well to her treatment and care plan and we are seeing so much progress already! She is handling her medicated baths, many eye drops, ear cleanings, and medications like a total champ.  After meeting with our ophthalmologist this week, she will head over to our cardiologist in 2 weeks for a cardiac evaluation and echocardiogram to try to determine, or at least rule out, some potential root causes of her cough. She surprisingly does not have an audible heart murmur and so mitral valve disease being the culprit is very unlikely.
We will be sure to share more about her eye conditions after her ophthalmology consultation on Tuesday. Franny is being fostered in Birmingham, Alabama where her foster mom reports that she wasted no time making herself right at home and is turning into a tiny princess right before her eyes! 👑 💕

UPDATE MAY 7, 2026: Franny came to us a few weeks ago as a transfer from another rescue when they recognized that she had more medical needs than they were able to meet. Since then, she’s been busy seeing our incredible specialists while also settling beautifully into her foster home in Birmingham, Alabama — where she’s quickly made herself right at home. 🩷
Little Franny has already completed her full intake vetting and ophthalmology evaluation, and yesterday she met with our cardiologist for a full cardiac workup and echocardiogram.
One of Franny’s biggest ongoing concerns has been a chronic cough of unknown origin. Although she does not have an audible heart murmur, we wanted to thoroughly investigate whether her heart could be causing or contributing to the cough. Thankfully, we were able to rule out a cardiogenic cause for the coughing itself. However, her echocardiogram did reveal some right-sided heart enlargement — something not typically seen in Cavaliers, who more commonly develop left-sided enlargement secondary to mitral valve disease. She was also diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and has now started medication to help manage that condition. She will remain under the care of a cardiologist to monitor her right sided changes and pulmonary hypertension. 
At this point, we believe Franny’s cough is pulmonary in origin, likely related to chronic lung changes from previous infections, environmental exposure, or other unknown factors from her past. Without knowing her history, it’s impossible to know exactly what led to these changes. What we have learned is that her cough is most easily triggered by stress, excitement, and nervousness. Because of that, one of the best things for Franny is exactly what she has now — a calm, safe, low-stress life where she can finally relax. In fact, now that she has settled into her foster home, we’ve already seen a marked decrease in her coughing episodes.
We are also happy to report that Franny’s eye, skin, and ear infections have now cleared, and she has completed treatment for her intestinal parasites. Her fecal test will be rechecked next week. She remains on multiple eye medications to manage her dry eye and pigmentary keratitis and will return to the ophthalmologist in two weeks for another recheck.
Because Franny’s past — including her age — is largely unknown, we’ve also submitted Embark’s DNA health and age testing in hopes of learning a little more about her and helping guide her future care. Sweet Franny has clearly been through a lot in her life, but she’s finally in a place where her comfort, health, and happiness come first 💕 

UPDATE MAY 14, 2026: Little Franny is currently awaiting the results of her Embark DNA health and age testing 🧬🧪 
Franny came into our care as a transfer from another rescue and her history before that is a bit of a mystery to us. We’ve been told anywhere from 6 years to 12 years for her age, and her long term neglected health issues only make it that much more difficult to estimate. So we decided to utilize this tool in hopes it will provide us with more insight into her story and aid us in continuing to make the best and most informed decisions for her care 💜
Per Embark: “The Embark Age Test estimates a dog’s calendar age and approximate birthday by measuring DNA methylation. As dogs age, DNA methylation changes in predictable patterns over time, essentially acting as a biological “clock” that scientists can use to estimate age. The Age Test measures the amount of methylation across thousands of markers in a dog’s genome. Our Age Test model allows us to predict a dog’s age based on that methylation profile. The Age Test estimates your dog’s age within a range of time called a prediction interval. The estimated birthday in your dog’s results is the midpoint of that age range. When you purchase the Age Test, you’ll receive an estimated age and birthdate for your dog, as well as information about the prediction interval. With the Age Test, 77% of dogs have a true birthday within 12 months of their estimated birthday.”
Results can take up to 6 weeks but we will be sure to share when we know!