Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How age, sex, and breed size affect dog obesity risk after spay
By Benka, Valerie A et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2023·1Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Age at gonadectomy, sex, and breed size affect risk of canine overweight and obese outcomes: a retrospective cohort study using data from United States primary care veterinary clinics.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how getting dogs spayed or neutered affects their chances of becoming overweight or obese. It found that dogs who were sterilized generally had a higher risk of being overweight compared to those who weren't, with male dogs being more affected than females. The age at which a dog is spayed or neutered also matters; those done at around 1 year old had a lower risk of weight issues compared to those sterilized earlier. This information can help veterinarians provide better advice to pet owners about the timing of these procedures to help prevent weight problems in their dogs.
People also search for: dog weight gain after spay · when to neuter my dog · effects of spaying on dog health
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the risk of developing an overweight or obese (O/O) body condition score (BCS) in gonadectomized versus intact dogs and, separately, the impact of age at gonadectomy on O/O outcomes among sterilized dogs. ANIMALS: Dogs were patients of Banfield Pet Hospital in the US from 2013 to 2019. After exclusion criteria were applied, the final sample consisted of 155,199 dogs. PROCEDURES: In this retrospective cohort study, Cox proportional hazards models evaluated associations between O/O and gonadectomy status, sex, age at gonadectomy, and breed size. Models were used to estimate the risk of becoming O/O in gonadectomized versus intact dogs and, separately, to estimate risk of O/O BCS according to age at surgery among gonadectomized dogs. RESULTS: Gonadectomy increased O/O risk for most dogs compared to intact dogs. Unlike most prior findings, O/O hazard ratios among gonadectomized versus intact dogs were larger for males than females. O/O risk varied according to breed size but not linearly. Sterilizing at 1 year old tended to yield a lower O/O risk compared to doing so later. Comparative O/O risk among dogs gonadectomized at 6 months versus 1 year varied by breed size. Overall patterns for obesity related to size were similar to patterns in the O/O analysis. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Veterinarians are uniquely positioned to help prevent O/O in their patients. Results extend understanding of risk factors for O/O development in dogs. In combination with information about other benefits and risks associated with gonadectomy, these data can help tailor recommendations regarding gonadectomy in individual dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37217173/