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Affects Of Early Desexing


stormie
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Does anyone have any articles or studies etc about the affects on growth plates from early desexing in large/giant breeds? I remember reading one by a canine sports club but I can't seem to find it.

I've posted this twice in other threads... Hang on...

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I've done a 2000 word lit review on it - I posted in breeders a while ago....basically if the dog is desexed before sexual maturity (i.e 12 weeks or 6 months - makes no difference) the dog will grow very slightly taller. The absence of sex hormones delays growth plate closure. At this stage there is no evidence that this leads to any physical problems such as HD - very difficult area of research and it is difficult to reach any solid conclusions. There are just too many variables!!!

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I know you we're directing any further questions at me :rolleyes: but there ARE peer reviewed articles linking desexing and osteosarcoma, one of the leading cancers in Danes - and at least one article liking desxeing before 12 months with oesteosarc. I think thats solid enough to wait until maturity.

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Stormie - you probably end up with slightly less muscle development (it really hasn't been assessed objectively) - but I think it is accentuated by the slightly longer bone length. It really is a case of weighing up the pros and cons - so a breeder that has faith in their puppy buyers may recommend waiting until sexual maturity before desexing but a shelter and a breeder of dogs in high demand for 'designer' dogs would be safest desexing early.

See if your council does discounts for other things like microchipping, member of training club etc :rolleyes:

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I know you we're directing any further questions at me :rolleyes: but there ARE peer reviewed articles linking desexing and osteosarcoma, one of the leading cancers in Danes - and at least one article liking desxeing before 12 months with oesteosarc. I think thats solid enough to wait until maturity.

I haven't got around to reading those and didn't mean to exclude them - I was focussing on more structural problems :D

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Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the articles Bubbly, they are interesting! I was wanting something to show that there is a definate affect on growth and the final structure of the dog following closure of the growth plates.

I just think it sucks that even though I intend to desex orbit in the future, I have to register him now or risk a fine, and I have to pay the fee for an entire dog, which is $110 more than if I were able to wait another 6 months or so until he is desexed. I wish I could take my certificate to the council when he is desexed and get a refund but they don't do it.

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I haven't got around to reading those and didn't mean to exclude them - I was focussing on more structural problems :D

Oh I didn't think you meant to exclude them! I just wanted to make sure Stormie took a look :rolleyes: If and when you get the time it's a really interesting read. The article is a review, but the references are awesome.

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Hi, Charles Kuntz here (specialist veterinary surgeon and subspecialist surgical oncologist). Regarding early desexing, I don't think there is an issue in male dogs, but if you spey females before their first heat you reduce the risk of mammary tumours by 99.5% and after the first heat by 95%. After the second heat, you lose any reduction in breast cancer. The link between late desexing and osteosarcoma is VERY VERY weak. The link between early speying and protection from breast cancer is ABSOLUTE. If not breeding, I would spey before the first heat.

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Hi, Charles Kuntz here (specialist veterinary surgeon and subspecialist surgical oncologist). Regarding early desexing, I don't think there is an issue in male dogs, but if you spey females before their first heat you reduce the risk of mammary tumours by 99.5% and after the first heat by 95%. After the second heat, you lose any reduction in breast cancer. The link between late desexing and osteosarcoma is VERY VERY weak. The link between early speying and protection from breast cancer is ABSOLUTE. If not breeding, I would spey before the first heat.

Thanks Charles. The thing I'm more concerned about is growth effects from lack of testosterone to signal the growth plates to close.

Exactly what I was looking for Bully, thanks!

The sex hormones close the growth plates, so the bones of dogs or bitches neutered or spayed before puberty continue to grow. This growth frequently results in a dog that does not have the same body proportions as he/she was genetically meant to. For example, if the femur is normal length at 8 months when a dog gets spayed or neutered, but the tibia, which normally stops growing at 12 to 14 months of age continues to grow, then an abnormal angle may develop at the stifle. In addition, with the extra growth, the lower leg below the stifle becomes heavier (because it is longer), causing increased stresses on the cranial cruciate ligament. This is confirmed by a recent study showing that spayed and neutered dogs have a higher incidence of CCL rupture (Slauterbeck JR, Pankratz K, Xu KT, Bozeman SC, Hardy DM. Canine ovariohysterectomy and orchiectomy increases the prevalence of ACL injury. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2004 Dec;(429):301-5).
Edited by stormie
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