Daisyhill Great Danes - Health Topics

Written By JP Yousha, Chromadane

For those of you on breed lists and/or CA residents who have kept up with
this latest debate on legislating the care of dogs, and for others involved
in veterinary medicine or science otherwise, this may not be fresh news, but
there is a lot of data recently surfacing to indicate the experiment in
prepubescent spays and neuters has come to an end, as the evidence is
mounting it generally has a negative effect both physically and mentally
(socially) on dogs. So in more than one sense, it is "late breaking" and
oddly, "it's an ill wind" as they say if more people learn more about the
risks and benefits of altering their pets, given the current political
turmoil in CA.

There has been much, if albeit, scattered, information in the last decade in
the veterinary literature to indicate the first flush of thinking early
spay-neuter would answer to (human) social needs (i.e. control of unwanted
pets) without damaging the pets themselves has now been reversed after
observing a decade (and more) of its actual effects on the dogs and cats in
question. Although there ARE some positive effects generated by spay & neuter
in general, and there may be some situations which justify early spay-neuter,
in general the risks outweigh the benefits for most people's dogs.

While neutering adult dogs may be protective of both good behavior and good
health (i.e. eliminating the risk of sexually related diseases & hormally
induced behaviors, there are a number of health problems surfacing that are
strongly correlated to neutering/spaying, especially when performed on
prepubescent dogs, including: increases the risk of osteosarcoma and
hemangiosarcoma (both cancers with a poor prognosis), increased risk of
hypothyroidism, obesity, and various orthopedic, endocrine and behavior
disorders.

There are also now some to date unpublished studies surfacing from service
dog organizations (e.g. CCI) that were done in the 1990s that offer
compelling evidenceas litters were split, one portion being used as a control
group (and not neutered until at least early adulthood), whereas the other
portion of the litter underwent early spay-neuter (i.e. CCI did a controlled
prospective research study; the "gold standard" to control for one single
variable, in this case the age when altered). The results demonstrated that
not only were the animals altered young more likely to suffer from various
health problems, the early-age spayed females were more dog aggressive, and
dogs of both sexes, when altered before adolescence, had a significantly
higher failure rate as service dogs. So apparently CCI returned to their
early policy that no animals were to be altered before 6 months, and on
average many were not spayed/neutered until they were at least a year old.
Guide Dogs for the Blind apparently had similar unhappy results with early
spay-neuter, and went back to waiting to alter the animals after they had at
least reached the threshold of sexual maturity, according to anecdotal
reports.

Chris Zink DVM and others involved in orthopedics and veterinary sports
medicine have also warned that the shape of the dog is altered by too-early
neuter/spay, subjecting the dog to higher risks of joint injury as well as
potentially lowering the general working abilities of the dogs in question,
and this alteration in expected conformation can have other deleterious
effects that are not necessarily just cosmetic. In breeds like the Great
Dane, for example, this altered conformation (longer distal bone length from
later closure of the epiphyses in dogs altered early) results in the
conformation (taller than average dog with a narrowed chest & elongated legs)
so commonly associated with GDV (bloat-torsion).

So this all not only pertains to our giants, for our dogs, as is so often the
case, there is a special twist? Osteosarcoma (bone cancer), for example, is a
disease most commonly seen in large (tall, heavy, fast-growing breeds), and
early-spay neuter increases the risk more than 3-fold. Orthopedic issues
(from OCD to CHD) are often associated with large/giant breeds, and there
appears to be a significantly increased risk of such diseases, as well as a
greater risk of athletic injuries (such as ACL tears). Add to that the
potential increase in the disruption of the endocrine axis, and the potential
negative effects on nervous system/social development, it seems old wisdom is
now new wisdom: IOW it pays to wait. And in most giants, don't forget,
adolescence, the onset of sexual maturity, isn't likely to come about around
6 months, but rather around 12 months. As we all know our dogs mature later,
and so, for a giant, a spay-neuter at 6 mo. might even be the equivalent of
altering a more average sized dog around 2-3 months.

Food for thought. Some links & excerpts to explore below my signature block.
A quick Google search will get you even more. And try PubMed or visit your
university library for many scholarly references.
Permission to cross-post is granted. jp
Best regards, JP Yousha
CHROMADANE
multi-titled/certified Harlequin family Danes
www.chromadane.com
*WORKING TYPE IN BLACK & WHITE*

Laura Sanborn: Long-Term Health Risks and Benefits Associated with Spay /
Neuter in Dogs.
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

(Widely quoted article, but worth reading from beginning to end. Sanborn is a
well-regarded GSD expert, science trained, and did a survey of the vet
literature, offering a neutral and comprehensive report on the pros-n-cons of
altering dogs.)

Chris Zink: Early Spay-Neuter Considerations
for the Canine Athlete: http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

(Especially important for those of us involved in dog sports and/or who raise
animals for service work.)

DANGERS OF EARLY NEUTER/SPAY:
http://www.sweetfurbabies.com/id12.htm
(Contains an exerpt from noted author and breed Pam Davol, and a variety of
veterinary references. )
Pam Davol's website is:
http://www.labbies.com/index.html#Health&Genetics
It is a WEALTH of information on H&W issues in dogs.

The Question Of Neutering and at what age?
http://www.littleriverlabs.com/neuter.htm

Neutered dogs have twice the risk of osteosarcoma as those intact...
http://geocities.com/rottndobie/SpayNeuterCancers.pdf

Spay / neuter before 1 year of age also increases the lifetime risk of deadly
osteosarcoma by a factor of 3.1 in female dogs to 3.8 in male dogs ( 2 ) .
...
http://www.dogdiscussion.com/3-vt299.html?start=30

A twofold excess risk (of osteosarcoma) was observed among neutered dogs.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9\
691849&dopt=Abstract
Early Spay/Neuter: An Overview: http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/ivb/spay-neu.htm

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/SpayNeuter/earlyspay.htm

Douglas R. Yearout, D.V.M., "It has become acceptable to [neuter young]
without questioning what role sex hormones play in the necessary development
of a pet's body, health and lifetime physiology. We just haven't been
sterilizing infant dogs and cats long enough to realize that it's a bad idea.
A 10-year history of early sterilization of ferrets indicates that it has
created a serious health problem. The farms that breed and sell ferrets to
pet stores perform sterilization on baby kits less than 8 weeks old. In that
time, I've seen the lifespan of ferrets go down by several years. Ferrets
routinely living to be 9 or 10 years old now die at 4 or 5 years, with a huge
increase in malignant adrenal gland and pancreatic cancer. We and our
companion animals were born with glands that produce hormones that allow us
to develop, adapt and function on a daily basis. If the glands are removed
before we sufficiently grow up, then the body will enable other glands to
take up the slack, allowing and maintaining balance (homeostasis). But those
other glands were never supposed to do all the work, and so they become
overactive, and can become cancerous, as is the case with ferrets. It's just
a matter of time before it's discovered that this is also true of dogs and
cats, hat sterilization in infancy is not in the best interests of their
health. [L]et me add that the benefits of spaying and neutering outweigh the
negatives. There are many things sterilized pets don't encounter, which
directly protects their life and limb. Intact male dogs and cats fight more,
roam more, and get killed by cars. There is the spread of fatal viral
diseases with bites, breeding and expensive unnecessary visits to the doctor
to treat the injuries. Females are also not spared, and suffer many of the
same maladies, as well as the problems surrounding the effects of the
pregnancy and the health of the offspring. And, contrary to what some people
think, they do not make better pets if they have a litter.

But, there are additional negative health effects that impact their life if
we do the surgery on infants. To back my claim, I have a growing list of
studies (mainly involving dogs) to prove that it's a good idea to wait a few
months before performing spay or neuter surgery. Normal bone growth is
affected by very early surgeries, which leads to body size changes. An
increased incidence of joint disease occurs, such as injury and rupture of
the cruciate knee ligament (ACL). There is an increase in the incidence of
bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in large breeds of dogs such as rottweilers. The
incidence of prostatic cancer in older male dogs is higher. Urinary
incontinence (leaking on the rug while asleep) is vastly increased for female
dogs who are spayed in infancy. A significantly higher incidence of hip
dysplasia (hip socket degeneration) is seen. There is a higher incidence of
cognitive impairment (senility) in male dogs neutered early. For these
reasons, I have concerns that very early sterilization is not a good thing.
Some may say that the other factors mentioned before are a good enough reason
to ignore these proven risks. I feel that each situation should be evaluated
individually. Responsible pet owners........who understand the problems of
pet overpopulation and can be trusted to keep their pets under their control
(preventing breeding), should be allowed to wait until 14 months of age in
dogs, and at least 6 months of age in cats and ferrets, to have this
procedure performed."