Early gonadectomies linked with Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease
Researchers say that removal of gonadal hormones should be performed after musculoskeletal maturity, if at all.
A study has connected early gonadectomy procedures with an increased chance of Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease (CrCLD) in male and female dogs.
Analysis has suggested that a gonadectomy before 2.9 years in female dogs and 2.2 years in male dogs substantially increased their risk.
The research analyses data from over 20,000 dogs, spanning a range of 36 years. It examined the link between cumulative gonadal hormone exposure and the risk of CrCLD in dogs.
Instead of categorising dogs with arbitrary age categories, the analyst treated gonadal hormone exposure as a continuous variable.
The study revealed the prevalence of CrCLD as 2.49 per cent in females and 1.89 per cent in male dogs.
The risk of CrCLD was found to be higher in dogs which had the least gonadal hormone exposure. This was at 1054 days for female dogs and 805 days for male dogs, with the minimum risk at approximately 2.9 years for females and 2.2 years for males.
Researchers state that the gonadectomy is highly likely to be linked with an increased risk of CrCLD. This suggests that the original suggested cutoff of two years of age is not scientifically grounded.
Based on these findings, the study concludes that removal of gonadal hormones should only be performed after musculoskeletal maturity, if at all.
Dr Daniel Low, lead author of the study, said: “There is an increasing body of evidence associating the development of CrCLD with neutering in both male and female dogs, and that the timing of neutering matters. However, we should not overlook the health benefits of neutering in reducing the risk of other diseases.
“In today’s day and age, practice neutering policies may no longer be appropriate and every decision to neuter is a clinical decision made by the attending veterinary surgeon after consultation with the animal owner”.
The full study can be found in the Journal of Small Animal Practice.
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