What is known is that it is most likely a hereditary problem in many cases. Not only is it often difficult to find the cause it is also sometimes very hard to treat. The tests required to rule out other causes of Idiopathic Epilepsy can be expensive for the owners. Frequent trips to the emergency room, the stress of watching your dog suffer through the seizures and the difficulties that sometimes occur with medications make epilepsy a particularly hard disease to deal with. Ordinarily, the occasional report of seizures in Cavaliers would not be unusual given the incidence of the disease occurring across the board in all dog breeds.
Epilepsy is the most common neurological disease found in dogs.
However, it seems from many of the reports from owners that we are hearing that the disease is showing itself particularly in the form of Flycatcher's Syndrome. Flycatcher's is a type of complex partial seizure where the dog seems to be snapping at invisible flies. According to the preliminary results of the Canine Epilepsy Project, they point to genetics as a possible cause of this problem. Several breeds have reported Flycatchers alone or in conjunction with more serious grand mal seizures. The actual statistics and rate of occurrence in our breed of Flycatchers is at this time is unknown.