Spay and Neuter Health Studies

Many owners have concerns about spaying or neutering their dog(s), and whether it can cause any undesired health or behavioral issues. Like all things human, everyone has an opinion! Today I wanted to post some links to several studies related to health and spay/neuter.

The following list contains studies pertaining to this topic. If you know of others, please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to update this post.

2020 - Univ of CA/Davis - Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for Mixed Breed Dogs of Five Weight Categories.

2013 - Univ of CA/Davis - Golden Retriever Study finding higher health risks regardless of early or late age spay/neuter.

2013 - Univ of GA - Study of 40,000 dogs finding spayed/neutered pets live longer but have higher incidence of cancers.

2009 Journal Article - Cohort study finding intact female Rottweilers have better longevity.

2004 JAVMA Article - Retrospective cohort study suggesting early neuter of male dogs offers more benefits than risks.

2004 Record Study - Intact dogs less likely to develop anterior cruciate ligament ruptures.

2002 Cohort Study - Intact Rottweilers less likely to develop bone cancer.

2001 JAVMA Article - Cohort study suggesting intact male dogs less likely to have cognitive impairment with aging.

2001 JAVMA Article - Cohort study suggesting no health or behavioral issues for 4 years following pre-puberty neuter of male dogs.

1999 Database Study - Neutered/Spayed dogs have higher incidence of cardiac tumors.

1998 Database Study - Neutered/Spayed dogs at 2x risk for osteosarcoma.

1994 Case Study - Intact dogs less likely to suffer from hypothyroidism.