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Has anyone read Frontiers in Vet Sci Study about best time to neuter?

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Raindrops 
#1 ·
I am learning about poodles and came across this study, published in July posted on FB, Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence.
Just wondering if anyone read it

Here's the summary advice part for poodles, if you link to the article, you can see the data in appendix 1:

Poodle, Toy
The study population was 49 intact males, 53 neutered males, 58 intact females, and 78 spayed females for a total sample of 238 cases. While the AKC registers all the Poodle varieties as the same breed, the three main varieties are dealt with separately here because of differences in size. In intact males, 4 percent had one or more joint disorders and in intact females there was no occurrence of a joint disorder. In neutered males and females, there was no evident increased risk of a joint disorder. There was a 2 percent occurrence of cancers in intact males and none in intact females. In neutered males and females, there was no noteworthy occurrence of cancers. In intact females, there was only a single case of MC and no case of PYO in intact females and no occurrence of UI in spayed females. Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered males or females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age.

Poodle, Miniature
The study population was 41 intact males, 60 neutered males, 30 intact females, and 69 spayed females for a total sample of 199 cases. The AKC registers the Toy, Miniature, and Standard Poodle varieties, all as the same breed. However, because of differences in size, the varieties of Poodles are dealt with separately here. There was no occurrence of a joint disorder in intact males or females. However, in males neutered at 6-11 mo., there was a significant 9 percent occurrence of joint disorders (p <0.01), reflecting CCL. In spayed females, there was no occurrence of a joint disorder. In intact males and females, there was a 5 and zero percent occurrence of cancers, respectively. There was no indication of increased cancer occurrence related to neutering in either sex. The only occurrence of MC in females was one female that had been spayed at 2–8 years. Of intact females, 6 percent developed PYO. Just one female spayed at <6 mo. developed UI. The suggested guideline for males, based on the significant occurrence of a joint disorder with neutering at 6-11 mo., is delaying neutering until a year of age. Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age.

Poodle, Standard
The study population was 47 intact males, 88 neutered males, 53 intact females, and 87 spayed females for a total sample of 275 cases. The AKC registers the Toy and Miniature, along with the Standard Poodle, as all being Poodles. However, because of differences in size, the varieties of Poodles are dealt with separately here. There was a 2 percent occurrence of joint disorders in both intact males and females. In males neutered at <6 mo., there was a non-significant increase to 8 percent, and in spayed females, there was no occurrence of joint disorders. The occurrences of cancers in intact males and females were 4 and 2 percent, respectively. In males neutered at 1 year of age, the occurrence of one or more cancers rose to a significant 27 percent (p <0.01), all due to the increased risk of LSA. In females, there was no significant increase in cancers with spaying. There was a 4 percent occurrence of MC, and a 2 percent occurrence of PYO in the females left intact. Just one female spayed beyond 2 years later developed UI. The suggested guideline for males, based on the occurrence of one or more cancers with neutering at 1 year, is to delay neutering until 2 years of age. Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age.
 
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#2 ·
There is another thread about this somewhere that you will find extensive comments on. My main takeaway is that the sample sizes were quite small but still manage to show a benefit to later spay and neuter. There are many other health issues that were not accounted for as well. But it is another study that adds to the evidence for preferred later alteration or lack thereof.
 
#3 ·
This is a study done thru UCDavis. Golden Retrievers were studied first with results published in 2013, then Labs and GSD. The study was expanded to 35 breeds (counting the three varieties of poodles) and those results were published just this year.

They're using the data collected by the teaching hospital over many years, and following the subjects thru their lives, as much as possible. This was not only to determine effects on the various breeds but to also have breed comparisons.
The size of the individual breed samplings vary but it is overall a reasonably big sampling.

They focused on these conditions:
joint disorders examined included cranial cruciate ligament tears or rupture (CCL), hip dysplasia (HD) and elbow dysplasia (ED). The cancers examined, which previous studies found could be affected by neutering, were lymphoma/lymphosarcoma (LSA), hemangiosarcoma (HSA), mast cell tumors (MCT), and osteosarcoma (OSA),
and what effect the age had on the incidence.

As Raindrops said, this study is giving more credence to later spay/neuter for many for the conditions looked at, and is helpful for folks willing to look at current information, if they are considering spay/neuter.

Good find!
 
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#4 ·
Thanks! I made a quick PF search, thinking to reply/respond instead of starting a new post because I thought I had read about delaying neutering to 2 years on this site before, but i saw mostly older posts. That this study is an expansion or an earlier study makes sense. I didn't realize the relationship of neutering and cancer, not only bone development. Thank you also for clarifying the disease acronyms. I stayed up way too late last night!
 
#6 ·
There have been extensive studies on labs, goldens, rottweilers, and maybe one other breed. They all suggest that early spay and neuter contributes significantly to orthopedic problems and cancer rates. There are also studies that strongly suggest negative effects to behavioral issues such as increase in timidity, aggression, and reactivity. There are still many health conditions that have not yet been studied in relation to spay and neuter, and research is far from complete. For example, Intervertebral Disk Disease can affect smaller poodles and studies have suggested a strong influence of alteration status in development of the disease.

When circumstances allow, I believe that waiting two years is a very responsible decision. This should be mediated by an individual dog's needs of course. Some dog behavioral issues are truly benefited by earlier altering. For females it may be beneficial to spay based on timeline of heat cycles due to risks involved with these cycles. It should be a case by case basis.

My own dog is likely to just get a vasectomy rather than a neuter as he has a stellar temperament with no major hormone-based issues.
 
#5 ·
here's the post if you were still interested
 
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