Abstract
Our recent study on the effects of neutering (including spaying) in Golden Retrievers in markedly increasing the incidence of two joint disorders and three cancers prompted this study and a comparison of Golden and Labrador Retrievers. Veterinary hospital records were examined over a 13-year period for the effects of neutering during specified age ranges: before 6 mo., and during 6–11 mo., year 1 or years 2 through 8. The joint disorders examined were hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear and elbow dysplasia. The cancers examined were lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, mast cell tumor, and mammary cancer. The results for the Golden Retriever were similar to the previous study, but there were notable differences between breeds. In Labrador Retrievers, where about 5 percent of gonadally intact males and females had one or more joint disorders, neutering at <6 mo. doubled the incidence of one or more joint disorders in both sexes. In male and female Golden Retrievers, with the same 5 percent rate of joint disorders in intact dogs, neutering at <6 mo. increased the incidence of a joint disorder to 4–5 times that of intact dogs. The incidence of one or more cancers in female Labrador Retrievers increased slightly above the 3 percent level of intact females with neutering. In contrast, in female Golden Retrievers, with the same 3 percent rate of one or more cancers in intact females, neutering at all periods through 8 years of age increased the rate of at least one of the cancers by 3–4 times. In male Golden and Labrador Retrievers neutering had relatively minor effects in increasing the occurrence of cancers. Comparisons of cancers in the two breeds suggest that the occurrence of cancers in female Golden Retrievers is a reflection of particular vulnerability to gonadal hormone removal.
Highlights
In the last three decades, the practice of spaying female dogs and castrating males has greatly increased
At neuter age,6 mo., at least one of the joint disorders occurred in 27 percent of the males, or five times the incidence of intact males (p,0.0001)
The results reveal that neutering through 8 years of age increases the risk of acquiring at least one of the cancers to a level 3–4 times that of leaving the female dog intact
Summary
In the last three decades, the practice of spaying female dogs and castrating males (both referred to as neutering) has greatly increased. The current estimate is that in the U.S, 83 percent of all dogs are neutered [1] and, increasingly, neutering is being performed prior to 6 mo., as advocated by many veterinarians and animal activists The impetus for this widespread practice is presumably pet population control, and the belief that mammary gland and prostate cancers are prevented and aggressive male behavior is markedly less likely than in those neutered later. This societal practice in the U.S continues to contrast with the general attitudes in many European countries, where neutering is commonly avoided and not promoted by animal health authorities [2,3,4]. A study on osteosarcoma (OSA) in several breeds found a 2-fold increase in neutered dogs relative to intact dogs [5], and in Rottweilers neutering prior to 1 year of age was associated with an increased occurrence of OSA to 3–4 times that of intact dogs [6]
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