Within the past year, Middletown Animal Hospital has started recommending that large breed dogs wait to be spayed/neutered until they are a year old to avoid potential joint disorders. Dr. Holtz knows this first hand with her 100 lb Doberman named Woodford. She recently neutered him at age 1 because it was better for his joints even though for behavior reasons she would have liked to do it earlier. If you are disciplined enough to train your puppy when behavioral issues arise and make sure your puppy does not have an unplanned breeding or pregnancy during this time then the medical benefit is worth the wait.
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), has found that spaying or neutering German shepherds before the age of 1 triples the risk of one or more joint disorders, particularly for cranial cruciate ligament tears, according to a university release.
In the UC Davis study, researchers looked at veterinary hospital records for a 14.5-year period for 1,170 intact and neutered (including spayed) German shepherds for joint disorders and cancers previously associated with neutering. The diseases were followed through 8 years of age, with the exception of mammary cancer in females, which was followed through 11 years of age. Dogs were classified as intact, neutered before 6 months, neutered between 6 and 11 months, or neutered between 12 and 23 months. Joint disorders and cancers were of particular interest to the researchers because neutering removes male and female sex hormones that play key roles in processes such as closure of bone growth plates, the release states.
The findings show that 7% of intact males were diagnosed with one or more joint disorders, as contrasted with 21% of males that were neutered prior to 1 year of age. Five percent of intact females were diagnosed with one or more joint disorders, while in females neutered before the age of 1 the percentage diagnosed rose to 16%. Mammary cancer was diagnosed in 4% of intact females, as compared to less than 1% of females neutered before 1 year. In intact females, urinary incontinence was not diagnosed at all; however, in females neutered before 1 year of age, it was diagnosed in 7% of cases.