COMMENT: Prince Andrew bought for his mother a couple of dorgis, which are dachshund-corgi hybrids. Sadly, one of them, Fergus, died at five months old. It is reported that the Queen is devastated. Personally, Prince Andrew made a mistake in gifting two dogs to his mother. She was deliberately winding down her “ownership” of the dogs because of her very advanced age.
She clearly did not want to be looking after companion animals when she dies as that will be unfair on the animals. In typical Prince Andrew style and regrettably his ignorance he decided to buy her a couple of dogs to try and help her get over the recent passing of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh. I get the point but his actions were wrong. I’m sure the Queen was very polite to her son but was probably thinking at the same time that she did not want to receive the gift.
And now, matters have been made worse because Fergus has died at such a young age. News media do not tell us why and I expect we will never be told but it got me thinking. To my mind there can only be two possible reasons (1) an inherited disease to which either the corgi or the dachshund is predisposed or (2) the dog was unfortunately killed in an accident.
My research indicates that the Pembrokeshire corgi does indeed, like all purebred companion animals, suffer from certain inherited diseases but none appear to cause sudden death. They are hip dysplasia, progressive retinal atrophy, degenerative myelopathy and von Willebrand’s disease.
Dachshunds are also predisposed to certain inherited illnesses such as the musculoskeletal conditions: patellar luxation, hip dysplasia, and also eye issues and obesity. None of these, it seems to me, can cause sudden death.
I am therefore driven to conclude that Fergus died of an accident and if that is correct it would be nice to know what happened. I have read that he died of heart disease. I know nothing more.
SOME MORE DOG HEALTH:
